LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

^^^mrnm^ 

-TV 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE CHURCH 

OF 

THE PARABLES 

AND 

True Spouse 

OF 

The Suffering Saviour. 

/ by 

JOSEPH PRAOHENSKY, 

Priest of the Society of Jesus. 




NEW YORK: 

THE CATHOLIC PUBLICATION SOCIETY CO., 
9 Barclay Street. 
1880. 



i .iE Library 
of Congress 

washington 



I ^1 



Copyrighted by 
JOSEPH PRACHENSKY, 
1880. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introduction, 5 

PART I. 

THE CHURCH OP THE PARABLES. 

SECTION I. 
Parable of the Good Samaritan. 

Chap. 1. —Fallen Man represented under the Figure of the Wounded 

Traveller, . . " . 27 

Chap. 2— Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, represented by the Good 

Samaritan, 41 

Chap. 3.— Jesus Christ, the Good Samaritan— Continued, ... 51 

Chap. 4. — The Good Samaritan conveys the Traveller to an Inn, which 

is a Figure of the True Church, 57 

Chap. 5.— Important Remarks on the Nature of the True Church, . 68 

section n. 

The Good Seed and the Cockle. 

Chap. 1.— The Good Seed represents the True Church, the Kingdom of 
Christ on Earth ; the Cockle is a Figure of the numerous 
Heresies which have sprung up since its Establishment, 71 

Chap. 2.— The Good Seed and the Cockle— Continued, .... 78 

1 



2 



Contents. 



SECTION III. 
The Grain of Mustard-Seed. 

PAGE 

Chap. 1.— Divine Origin, Development, and Catholicity of the Church, 85 
Chap. 2. — The numerous Divisions and Changes in the Sects are a 

sufficient Proof of their Falsity, 92 

• . 

SECTION IV. 
The Parable of the Leaven. 

Chap. 1.— The Leaven represents the Doctrine and Grace of our Lord 
Jesus Christ — The Woman who imparts the Leaven is the 
Catholic Church, 101 

Chap. 2.— How the Divine Leaven operates on the Human Soul, . . 109 

SECTION V. 
The Treasure in the Field.* 
Chap. 1.— The Church and her Treasure, 118 

SECTION VI. 
. Parable of the Pearls. 

Chap. 1.— All the Means of Grace and pious Practices in the Catholic 
Church are so many precious Pearls which she bestows 
on her Faithful Children, ....... 127 

Chap. 2. — The Pearl of great Price represents also the Evangelical 
Counsels practised and recommended by Jesus Christ 
and His Apostles, . .133 

SECTION vn. 
The Parable of the Net. 

Chap. 1.— The Net is a Figure of the Doctrine of the True Church, 

out of which there is no Salvation, . . . .137 

Chap. 2.— As all the Fishes within the Net were not good, so in the 
same manner many of those who profess the Catholic 
Faith will be rejected on the Day of Judgment for not 
living according to the Teaching of the Church, . . 144 



Contents. 



3 



SECTION VIII. 
The Parable of the Scribe. 

PAGE 

Chap. 1.— Outside the Catholic Church there can be no proper Under- 
standing of the Doctrine of Christ, 153 

Chap. 2. —The Doctrine of the Church puts no Barrier to the human 
Intellect, and we can acquire the Knowledge of our holy- 
Faith without the aid of human Learning, . . .159 

SECTION IX. 
The Pharisee and Publican. 173 

SECTION X. 
The Prodigal Son. 

Chap. 1.— His Departure from Home, 180 

Chap. 2. — The Consequences of Apostasy, 190 

Chap. 3. — Repentance and Return to his Father, 198 

Chap. 4.— Return of the Prodigal to the Father's House, . . . 200 
Chap. 5.- -The Joy evinced at the return of the Prodigal— The Father 

pleads His Cause before the Elder Brother, . . . 217 

SECTION XL 
The Marriage Feast. 

Chap. 1.— The Union of Christ with the Catholic Church, His Spouse 

and the Indissolubility of Christian Marriage, . . . 233 

Chap. 2.— How important it is to seek the Truth and follow it— The 
greater number of Men are lost because they do not seri- 
ously think of this Matter, 240 

Chap. 3.— It is not sufficient for Salvation to be nominally Members of 
the True Church— Reasons why many are called but few 
are chosen, , 254 



4 



Contents. 



PART II. 

The Church the True Spouse of the Suffering Saviour. 

PAGE 

Chap. 1.— The Persecution to which the Catholic Church is subjected 
in all Ages is an Infallible Proof that She is the only- 
True Church of Christ, .265 

Chap. 2.— As the Sufferings of Christ proved His Divinity and accom- 
plished what the Prophets had foretold, so it is by Suf- 
fering that the Church reaches Her Destiny and shall be 
Glorified with Him, 291 



I 



INTRODUCTION, 



HUNDEED years of uninterrupted social pro- 



gress have elapsed since tlie declaration of our 
national independence, and to-day we behold, with 
sentiments of pride and admiration, the wonderful 
works of that century. The many noble institu- 
tions, political, commercial, and literary, which cover 
the wide- spread face of our glorious republic, the 
active spirit which animates every department of 
human science, attest f ally to all nations the energy 
and enterprise of our people. Like the soil of our 
country, our minds are fresh, vigorous, powerful, 
our hopes bright and lofty, our confidence in our 
capacities and destiny unbounded, our strides in the 
career of natural progress and every species of mate- 
rial well-being unparalleled. Life, vigorous life, 
flows through the veins of the millions who dwell 
between the great lakes and the Gulf of Mexico, the 
Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. On all sides is 
heard the hum of lucrative industry ; every city and 
hamlet presents to us signs of wealth and improve- 
ment ; each foot of land sheltered beneath the wings 
of the American eagle is a scene of busy life, every 
man wide awake to personal interest and pursuing 
with avidity the object of his ambition. Is not our 
lot most fortunate and enviable ? And who would not 
be proud to claim such a country as his own, and 
thank Divine Providence for having cast his lot in 




G 



Introduction. 



such a land and such an age as ours ? — a land and 
an age so favored by nature and by Heaven, and 
destined to hold for ever an illustrious place in the 
annals of history. Surrounded as we are with all 
the necessaries of life, and all the arts and appliances 
of industry and refinement ; basking in the sunshine 
of peace and prosperity ; guarded and protected in 
the enjoyment of all our rights by a wise and paternal 
government ; ease, affluence, and security at home, 
respect and glory abroad ; a past so full of stirring, 
proud recollections, a future beaming with the 
brightest hopes — what is there wanting to complete 
the happiness and renown of our nation ? Every 
wish we could conceive in this respect seems antici- 
pated. Ah ! if man were a being of time, not of 
eternity ; if his destiny and happiness were to be 
found in this world, we might answer : Nothing, 
nothing is wanted ; we have all that a people could 
desire for their comfort and prosperity. Let us have 
peace, and with the aid of steam and electricity, and 
a wise, liberal government, we will make America the 
happiest country in the world. But no ; man is not 
destined to attain perfect happiness in this life. If it 
were so, every man would attain it ; no one would 
have griefs or meet with disappointments ; those 
restless desires which constantly agitate the hu- 
man heart would cease to disturb him, since, being 
formed for terrestrial happiness and enjoyment, he 
would rest content in the material objects which sur- 
round him. We repeat, man's lasting home is not 
here, and so it is that, although fortune has poured 
out her golden treasures on this fair land, there are 
hundreds, yea, thousands, who never taste her sweets, 
and whose lives form one continual series of human 



Introduction. 



7 



misery. We may go still farther and enquire of those 
whom the world deems fortunate — the great, the 
rich, the renowned — if they are happy in their posses- 
sions? If candid, they will answer without exception, 
No ! As the most beautiful rose has its thorns, so 
earthly felicity bears to the heart of its possessor only 
stings and regrets. Yes, even in fair America men 
are not happy, ai*d its prosperity can afford them no 
permanent home, neither will its riches satisfy them, 
for "man liveth not by bread alone, but by every 
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God " ; * 
and here, more than anywhere else, it seems necessary 
to remind him that his dwelling-place is beyond this 
transitory life, and that it will avail him nothing to 
"gain the whole world and lose his own soul."f 
Experience also teaches that temporal advantages and 
prosperity often prove more injurious than beneficial 
to man's salvation ; for whilst few are made better by 
riches, many are ruined and lost for ever, since the 
mind, being wholly occupied in the pursuit of the 
perishable goods of this short life, finds it difficult to 
relish or pursue those which are unseen and eternal. 
The Holy Spirit Himself testifies to the truth of this 
assertion when He praises the rich man who is found 
without blemish. "'Who is he, 99 He asks, "and w T e 
will praise him ? for he hath done wonderful things in 
his life." I And as wonderful things are rare, so also 
are rich men without blemish. 

But you may ask me, Is there not an abundance of 
the spiritual bread of the word of God scattered all 
over the country ? There is hardly a city or village 
throughout the land which does not open, every Sun- 
day, three, four, or five different churches at the 

* St. Matt. iv. 4. t Ibid. xvi. 26. $ Ecclus. xxxi. 9. 



\ 



8 



Introduction, 



least to accommodate its inhabitants ; and are there 
not hundreds of different religions to suit the most 
fastidious worshippers ? Have we not Bible and 
Tract Societies, supported chiefly by the rich, which 
circulate annually millions of copies of the written 
word of God and religious instruction all over the 
States of this glorious Union ? Ah ! if these church 
edifices were to contain, not altar against altar and 
teacher against teacher, but one and the same altar 
of which the Apostle speaks when he says, "%We 
have an altar of which those have no power to eat 
who serve the tabernacle " * ; and were our numerous 
teachers preaching the same doctrine of the one true 
faith originally handed down to the saints, speaking 
all the selfsame thing, like the primitive Christians, 
who, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, had all 
the same faith and the same baptism — not a different 
faith and a different or no baptism ; were they all one, 
as Christ and the Father are one — not different 
churches, but all belonging to the one only true 
Church, established by Jesus Christ and His Apostles, 
one flock under one shepherd ; had no one revolted, 
but all remained firm in the faith of Christ ; were 
there no divisions, no schisms, no human opinion 
advanced as the substitute for truth ; were the 
American people all living members of the one 
body of Jesus Christ, which is His visible Church, 
His visible Spouse, with a supreme visible head of 
her own, animated and guided by the Holy Spirit, 
the Spirit of truth ; if these numerous churches 
were not so many mutilated bodies without a head, 
so many scattered limbs without a trunk or soul ; 
were they all united in offering to the eternal and 

* Heb. xiii. 10. 



Introduction. 



9 



undivided Trinity that "clean oblation" spoken of 
by the prophet Malachi — then would the sight of 
those edifices fill our hearts with holy joy and 
exultation ; then would we hail them as seats of 
light and not of darkness, as sources of heavenly 
truth and not of pernicious errors, as tabernacles 
of God with men* and not as strongholds of the 
spirit of darkness, who falsifies the word of God and 
suggests his own inventions in its stead. 

America ! how much thou dost resemble in 
this respect pagan Kome, which thought, as St. Leo 
tells us, "it had adopted the greatest religion be- 
cause it rejected no sort of falsehood." f There 
was not an idol or a superstition in the whole em- 
pire which had not its temples and votaries in Eome. 
It was only when the Son of God made man sent 
His- faithful Apostles to that city, to transform it 
from the chief seat of error into the chief seat of 
divine, heavenly truth, that hell rebelled, and, for 
the space of three hundred years, waged the most 
cruel -persecution to uproot and destroy, if possible, 
the dawning light of the Gospel. But its efforts 
were fruitless : it was conquered, and this proud 
mistress of error became the humble disciple of 
truth. 

It is true the Constitution of the United States 
guarantees equal rights to all ; it allows liberty of 
conscience to all; it even forbids Congress to frame 
or pass a law which might in any way interfere with 
the free exercise of religion. But does this annihi- 
late the- seed of religious quarrels and contentions? 
Does it prevent the jarring sects, no matter how 
fiercely opposed to each other, from uniting against 

* Apoc. xxi. 3. t Serin, i. on Nat. Apost. Peter and Paul. 



10 



Introduction. 



the one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and 
See of St. Peter at Kome, the common centre of 
Christian faith and unity ? Who will deny that this 
religious disunion is the worst evil of this otherwise 
prosperous and happy country, and that it would be 
infinitely better off if all its inhabitants were united 
in one religion — not a religion invented and adulte- 
rated by men's passions, but the genuine divine reli- 
gion revealed and established .by God Himself for 
the common welfare of humanity ? 

Oh ! it is time for the enlightened American peo- 
ple, so intelligent in every other respect, and who 
have so much at heart their own and their country's 
welfare, to give this subject their most serious atten- 
tion. 

Protestantism was transplanted to American soil 
soon after its rise in Europe, and since the declara- 
tion of ouf independence it has had full liberty to 
expand and reach its perfection. There was nothing 
to retard its progress, except what it nurtured in its 
own bosom. In no other country in the w r orld had 
it such means and opportunities of unfolding its 
designs and achieving its aims ; and now, after a 
whole century of luxuriant growth in the sunlight of 
untrammelled liberty, we have a right to call it to an 
account and ask, How has it succeeded in effecting a 
reformation ? For it was under the fascinating 
name of Reformation of the true Church of Jesus 
Christ that it was begun, and has been fostered even 
to the present day. To reform means, as everybody 
knows, to restore something which has lost its origi- 
nal perfection to its pristine state. Now, as Pro- 
testantism undertook nothing less than to reform 
the Church of God, we might justly expect it to pro- 



Introduction. 



11 



duce a Church which, in point of faith and morals, 
should attain the full perfection of the primitive 
Church of the first four centuries, of which we read 
such edifying accounts not only in the Acts of the 
Apostles and the writings of the ancient Fathers, but 
also in those of Jewish and pagan writers. 

To appeal only to Scripture testimony, we read in 
the Acts of the Apostles : ; ' And they were persever- 
ing in the doctrine of the Apostles, and in the com- 
munication of the breaking of bread, and in pray- 
ers" ; * and again : " And the multitude of believers 
had but one heart and one soul." f 

Now, whoever considers the actual state of Protes- 
tantism in our day, in this or any other country, 
and judges with impartiality, is forced to acknow- 
ledge that it has not persevered in the doctrine of 
the Apostles, for all the Apostles preached the same 
doctrine which they had learned from Jesus Christ. 
Hence if Protestants had persevered at all times 
in the doctrine of the Apostles they also would, at 
the present day, have but one creed and one faith ; 
there would be no jarring sects amongst them, and 
no one would reject or anathematize a doctrine 
which another believes, reveres, and upholds as re- 
vealed by God; for truth unites, error divides. 
They would all be believers ; no one would doubt, 
deny, or scoff at what the other holds sacred ; they 
would have but one heart and one soul As in the 
human heart there is but one will and affection 
concerning the self -same thing, which is either love 
or aversion ; and as in the human soul there can 
be but one idea relating to the same thing, which 
contains either an affirmation or a denial ; so, also, 

* Acts ii. 42. t Ibid. iv. 32. 



12 



Introduction. 



in the true Church of Jesus Christ there is but one 
heart and will, which is the will of God ; and but 
one soul and idea, which is that of Christ, who has 
revealed and communicated to us His idea in the 
doctrine which He taught. 

Let the defenders of Protestantism advance what- 
ever pleas they choose in order to justify their sepa- 
ration from the Mother Church of Borne ; all must 
acknowledge as an undeniable fact that truth and 
charity have suffered most fearfully by this separa- 
tion. Instead of belief Protestantism teaches men 
to doubt ; and instead of giving the truth at once, 
it sets men to search after it all their lives — "Ever 
learning and never attaining to the knowledge of 
the truth."' * Instead of teaching the true meaning 
of God's word, it teaches human opinions about the 
word of God ; and this, too, with perfect liberty to 
assent or not to assent, to have one's own private 
opinion about religion, so that every individual may 
have his own creed, if he chooses, and believe more 
or less of the teachings of Christ, provided he does 
not believe what the Catholic Church teaches, ex- 
cept in common with the sects. It is useless to ask 
a Protestant minister : "'What are the doctrines of 
Jesus Christ ? " Long ago the answer was given : 
"It is easier to say where they are than what they 
are. 53 They will not teach people what they are to 
believe and to do in order to be saved, but what they 
are not to believe and not to do, that they may not 
fall into "the errors of Popery" — as if the only sin 
which a Christian can commit is to believe in the 
one holy Catholic Church ! The consequence of 
this absurdity is a multitude of discordant sects ; a 

* 2 Tim. iii. 7. 



Introduction. 



13 



multitude of conscientious persons driven almost to 
insanity by religious doubts and difficulties ; a multi- 
tude of scoffers at all religions ; and a multitude of 
such as profess no religion — not because they are 
opposed to religion, but out of respect for it, since, 
not being able to distinguish the true Church from 
the churches that are false, they hesitate to follow 
any one in particular through fear of falling into 
error. Being taught from their infancy to regard 
the Eoman Catholic Church as a repository of all 
religious absurdities and abominations, they do not 
think it worth while, even for the sake of examina- 
tion, to admit her claims as to the truth of her teach- 
ing. As the Jews of old were persuaded that "no 
good could come from Nazareth," * so, also, Protes- 
tants feel assured that no good can come from Eome 
— nay, more, many of them regard it as almost a 
crime to come in contact with her ; and, on the other 
hand, when they cast their eyes on the multitude of 
different sects which surround them, each one pro- 
fessing its belief in the Bible, and each attaching a 
different meaning to the words of the sacred text ; 
when they see men of talent and erudition, even men 
of undoubted honesty and sincerity, in almost every 
denomination, they may well ask with Pontius 
Pilate: " Quid est Veritas ? " (What is truth ?) f But, 
alas ! He that is the truth is not with the sects and 
gives no answer. Like Pilate, they also halt at this 
question, instead of enquiring where the divine truth 
is deposited, and where He who is "the way, the 
truth, and the life" promised to be "always, even 
to the end of the world." Oh ! they do not think it 
worth while to pursue this, the great and only con- 

* St. John i. 46. t Ibid, xviii. 38. 



14 



Introduction. 



cern of their mortal life, but, closing their ears to 
the whisperings of the Holy Spirit, they turn to the 
enemies of truth and repeat: "No good can come 
from Rome." Still, all good came from Nazareth. 
Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, God made 
man, lived at Nazareth the greater part of his mor- 
tal life ; and He was the truth which leads to life — 
the truth which Pontius Pilate was asking for ; yet, 
though Jesus stood before him, he w T ould not listen 
to Him, but went out to consult the Jews, the sworn 
enemies of Jesus ! Oh ! would to God that all those 
separated from the Catholic Church would lay aside 
their prejudice that nothing good can come from 
Eome. Would to God they would ask the question, 
"'What is truth? "not of the bigoted Scribes and 
Pharisees, who neither entered the kingdom of God 
themselves — i.e., the true Church of Christ — nor 
permitted others to enter it, but of those who can 
prove to full conviction that they date their mission 
back to Jesus Christ and His Apostles, and have, in 
all times and under all circumstances, faithfully ful- 
filled the command of the Sovereign Pastor: "Go 
ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to 
-every creature";* and again : "Teaching them to 
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded 
you: and behold, I am with you all days, even to 
the consummation of the world." f 

That Protestantism has failed to accomplish what 
it undertook to perform is a fact which nowadays 
can be concealed no longer. Instead of enlightening 
its followers with the one holy and undivided truth, 
which would make them all of one mind and one 
heart, and make them all think and speak the self- 

* St. Mark xvi. 15. t St. Matt, xxviii. 20. 



Introduction. 



15 



same thing, it permits every one to have his own 
opinion about the truth, and, in consequence, intro- 
duces a confusion of ideas in matters of religion 
which it finds impossible to correct. Instead of 
"gathering together in one the children of God that 
were dispersed/'" * it tears away millions of precious 
souls from God's chosen family, casting them forth 
helpless and untaught, with no hand to guide them 
in their journey to eternity. The greater part of 
Protestant children are unbaptized, and therefore 
lost for ever to the cause of Christ. Instead of kin- 
dling and fostering in the hearts of its followers the 
fire of divine* charity, Protestantism has poisoned 
them with the bitter hate of bigotry, so that even 
the best men, who desire sincerely to be kind and 
liberal, become exceedingly bitter when their religion 
is touched on. It did not work like cement, which 
holds together and consolidates more and more every 
part of the building the older it grow r s ; but like an 
acid, which corrodes everything it comes in contact 
with, except gold. Now, here is a fact well worthy 
the American statesman's consideration as well as 
the private citizen's : It is nearly four hundred years 
since Protestantism was begun with the avowed ob- 
ject of establishing one true Church, in which divine 
truth and charity should reign supreme. It has en- 
joyed the cordial patronage of kings and princes ; it 
has been basking in the sunshine of liberty in our 
own country ever since the declaration of indepen- 
dence; and during all this time, with so many advan- 
tages, it has produced nothing among those who fol- 
lowed its teaching but discord and confusion. It has 
set adrift on the waves of doubt and darkness count- 



* St. John xi. 52. 



16 



Introduction. 



less thousands who are entirely estranged from any 
Christian religion. Consider, on the other side, the 
Catholic Church. Established more than eighteen 
hundred years ago, and, notwithstanding the most 
violent persecutions from within and without, pos- 
sessing the same divine faith, hope, and charity 
which were imparted to her on the day of Pente- 
cost, she labors continually to unite all men in the 
bosom of the one saving faith, always cheering and 
supporting, by her heavenly doctrine and sacraments, 
the weary pilgrimage of life. Oh! when will the 
estimable and enlightened American people look seri- 
ously on this truth, apply this touchstone to their 
religious troubles and dissensions, and pronounce a 
fair and impartial judgment? They have the intelli- 
gence to perceive the truth, would they once seek it ; 
but being, for the most part, engaged in commerce, 
farming, etc., their attention is too much engrossed 
with the affairs of the present life, and so they neg- 
lect those of eternity, the one thing necessary. Like 
those mentioned in the Gospel whom the king invited 
to his son's marriage, "they neglected, and went 
their wavs, one to his farm, and another to his mer- 
chandise.''* The same thing happens every day 
amongst us. As long as their Protestantism lets 
them £0 their ways .they are satisfied, provided it 
does not lead them to public shame and disgrace, or 
to the Catholic Church, forgetting that Almighty 
God has said: "My thoughts are not your thoughts: 
nor your ways my ways. For as the heavens are 
exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above 
your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts." f 
Would to God that all the wealth and talent which 

* St. Matt. xxii. 5. t Isaias lv. 8, 9. 



Introduction. 



17 



are used at present to widen the breach which exists 
between Catholic and Protestant Christians were 
employed to establish union, peace, and happiness 
between separated brethren, fulfilling these words of 
the great Apostle of the Gentiles : " Careful to keep 
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. One 
body and one Spirit ; one Lord, one faith, one bap- 
tism "! * All one under one shepherd — not by means 
of physical force or the mingling of Catholic teach- 
ing with Protestant notions, but by moral suasion, 
the only thing capable of bringing about a sincere 
return of those who have been led astray from the 
true Church of Jesus Christ, which all are bound to 
hear and obey; for "he that will not hear the 
Church," says Christ, "let him be to thee as the 
heathen and publican." f 

That Protestantism has erred and misled its fol- 
lowers is a fact which, in our enlightened nineteenth 
century, cannot be denied. It has failed to do what 
it promised, and has brought on the reverse of what 
it should have accomplished. Now comes its turn to 
retrace its steps and repair the injury done to the 
cause of Jesus Christ. Errare humanum est: in 
errore perseverare diabolicum (to err is human ; to 
persevere in error is devilish). "He that is not with 
me," said our Blessed Lord, "is against me ; and he 
that gathereth not with me, scattereth." J Now, 
Protestantism has scattered long enough — only too 
long and too much ; it is time for every sincere man 
to gather, and gather with Christ. 

It will not justify its followers before God to say : 
" We all believe in Jesus Christ, we all endeavor to 
serve the same God — only in different ways." All 

* Eph. iv. 3-5. t St. Matt, xviii. 17. % Ibid. xii. 30. 



18 



Introduction. 



that may soothe the troubled conscience for the pres- 
ent, but it will avail nothing on the great day of trial 
through which each and all of us have to pass before 
long, and always sooner than we imagine. There is 
but one way to enter into life, and a narrow way at 
that; for "Not every one that says to Me, Lord, 
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he 
that doeth the will of My Father. . . . Many 
will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not 
prophesied in Thy name, and cast out devils in Thy 
name, and done many miracles in Thy name ? And 
then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: 
depart from Me, you that work iniquity."* And 
truly a work of iniquity it is to rend asunder the 
seamless garment of Christ, His glorious Church 
without spot or wrinkle; f to lead astray millions of 
His flock, and to plunge them in a state of darkness 
far more intolerable than that in which the nations 
were involved before His coming. The latter doubted 
about the truths of natural religion, but the former 
doubt about the truths of divine religion. What a 
work of iniquity — to abolish the authority of the 
Church commissioned by Jesus Christ to " teach all 
nations," and to instigate every one who knows how 
to read to become his own teacher, and read and 
interpret the word of God as he chooses, provided he 
"does not hear the Church"; to replace a living 
authority established by God by the dead letter of the 
sacred Book, purposely mistranslated and mutilated 
to suit sectarian purposes, and to substitute the opin- 
ions of men about the divine truth for the divine 
truth itself ! "Whosoever," says the Apostle, "re- 
volteth, and continueth not in the doctrine of Christ, 

* St. Matt. vii. 21-23. t Eph. v. 27. 



Introduction. 



19 



hath not God."* It is not my intention to enume- 
rate at present all the sins of Protestantism, but 
this much will I say : if those who began it did 
wrong, those who support and propagate it are not 
less guilty, and nothing but a sincere return to the 
true Church will save them from the awful and irre- 
vocable sentence above quoted. 

Xor will it do to say that all religions are good and 
that one is as good as another. So long as it is a 
certain fact that Jesus Christ taught but one religion 
and established but one Church, under one supreme 
pastor, to whom He entrusted the whole flock, every 
other religion and church must necessarily be a 
counterfeit, and consequently rejected by Almighty 
God. Go and tell any of our respected merchants in 
Wall Street, Xew York, that one bank-note is as good 
as another — no matter what the difference is, so long 
as it bears the name of a bank-note nothing more is 
required ; will they believe you speak seriously, and, 
if so, will they believe you have your senses ? Why, 
then, do you, men of reason and intelligence, receive 
and maintain as a truth in religious matters what 
you would reject as a cheat and nonsense in money 
matters ? Away with all such counterfeit churches 
and religions ! We need not legislative enactments or 
anything of that kind to establish the kingdom of 
Christ in this country, Americans of whatever creed 
or persuasion (I address myself in particular to the 
good, the noble-minded, the talented men of our na- 
tion — you in whose hands rests the destiny of our 
people), join hands and hearts together, put aside 
every prejudice against Eome and the Catholic 
Church, give ear to her doctrine, judge fairly and 

* 2 St. John i. 9. 



20 



Introduction, 



impartially the Church of your remotest ancestors — 
they were Catholics, and many of them gave up their 
lives in its cause ; yes, my friends, at this moment 
the martyr's diadem crowns their noble brows, and 
you shall behold them on that great day of the Lord 
"when death and hell shall give up their dead, and 
weeping and mourning shall be no more. 99 * You shall 
meet them in that august assembly which no man can 
number, and where you also shall occupy a place 
if, like them, you combat faithfully under the same 
glorious standard ; and this glorious standard, my 
friends, is no other than that of the one holy Catholic 
and Apostolic Church of Borne. Examine, then, I en- 
treat you, for the sake of your immortal souls, examine 
carefully, conscientiously the many claims which this 
Church has to your submission, your esteem, and 
your gratitude. She alone has the glory of being 
founded by Jesus Christ and His Apostles. She has 
for her security His infallible promise that He is 
with her "all days, even to the consummation of the 
world." She is His Spouse, ever subject to Him — 
His only one, His body, His kingdom, His reward 
for all He did and suffered. She stands before you 
to-day as a tender mother that has been cruelly 
slandered and calumniated, in order to estrange from 
her the lost children of her affection ; destined, like 
her Divine Founder, to drink the bitter chalice of 
suffering and persecution, to feel the angry waves of 
hell's threatening fury dash against her, though 
without power to overthrow her, but destined 
likewise — oh ! never forget it — to partake of His joy 
and bliss in heaven. Here, then, is the rightful 
mother of your souls, whose arms are at all times 

* Apoc. xx. 13, xxi. 4. 



Introduction. 



21 



extended to receive you, that she may bear you in 
safety to your eternal rest. A child who has been 
unjustly torn from the parental home by some 
designing person, though too young at the time to 
understand its loss, will afterwards, if warned by 
friendly authority, do all in its power to ascertain the 
truth as long as there is an opportunity of doing so.' 
Now, there is no Protestant who does not know that 
his ancestors were Catholics, yet very few there are 
who know by what means and what injustice they have 
been wrested from the heart of their mother Church. 
A fair and impartial history of these events has never 
come into their hands. 

We come, therefore, not to ask favors for the 
Catholic Church, but as an humble servant whom the 
" Great King " sends to invite you to His kingdom. 
Ah ! yes ; and we come also as a friend who has your 
happiness at heart, and w T ho loves each dear soul 
as the fond mother loves her cherished first-born. 
Many of you who read my feeble words will never 
meet me till the last great day, when you will 
recognize me as the lowly instrument which your 
Heavenly Father employed to direct your sincere and 
yearning hearts to the infallible "Bark of Peter," 
where peace and salvation awaited you. Go to work, 
then, in God's name, for the dismal night of death 
approaches, in which no man can work ; make good 
use of the precious time which yet remains ; examine 
attentively the teachings of the Catholic Church. 
We ask no more than a fair, impartial trial and judg- 
ment, such as no honorable American would deny 
the greatest criminal. 

It is not my purpose in the present little treatise 
to vindicate the claims of the Catholic Church 



22 



Introduction. 



on historical grounds, as there are numerous and 
excellent works of that description to be found in 
every Catholic bookstore ; nor do I see any necessity 
for appealing to human testimony in order to justify 
the truth and divine character of Holy Church. 
Americans, thank God ! love the Bible ; they respect 
and revere it, and I am happy to be able to show in 
the following pages that no other but the Holy 
Roman Catholic Church, as it was and as it is, can 
claim to be the Church of the Bible. The impartial 
reader will, therefore, be amazed to see how clearly 
the constant tradition of the Church illustrates the 
texts I have undertaken to explain, and how many 
things beautifully represented in Scripture as be- 
longing to this Church are rejected by the so-called 
Reformers, though drawn and ordained by the 
master-hand of our Divine Redeemer Himself. Like 
a wise architect, He planned His Church before 
He built it. He gave us sketches representing it 
from different points of view. He depicted her 
exterior and interior appearance, sometimes giving 
even the most minute details, so that we have only 
to compare these drawings of our Divine Master in 
order to distinguish the true Church from her coun- 
terfeits. This He did particularly in His parables, 
which are nothing but plain, simple stories, easily 
remembered by plain, simple people, even without 
learning or talent. In these He clothed His divine 
doctrines, and adapted them to the capacities of 
His humblest auditors, taking His illustrations from 
those common and obvious objects with which they 
were most familiar, screening the Divine Mysteries 
at the same time from the ill-disposed and bigoted 
who listened to the parables but would not under- 



V 

Introduction. 



•23 



stand their meaning. Hence when the Apostles 
came and said to Him, " Why speakest thou to 
them in parables ? " He answered them, " Because to 
you it is given to know the mysteries of the 
kingdom of heaven."* They were to know them 
not merely for their own benefit, but for that of 
those also whom they were hereafter to teach and 
instruct. But to them — viz., the Scribes and Phari- 
sees, and bigoted Jews, who listened not as persons 
anxious to be instructed, but that they might mock 
and criticise the sacred words that fell from the lips 
of Jesus— " to them it is not given. For he that 
hath, to him shall be given: but he that hath not, 
from him shall be taken away that also which he 
hath. Therefore do I speak to them in parables : 
because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear 
not, neither do they understand." f Hence we find 
in the Gospel that whenever the Apostles seemed 
not to understand, or to misunderstand, the real 
meaning of His words, He never failed to explain 
the subject to them, though He did not do so 
before the multitude, because of the evil-minded 
persons amongst them. This is why some of the 
parables are explained, whilst others are not ; for 
when the Apostles were sufficiently instructed con- 
cerning the mysteries of which He spoke in the 
parables, they needed no explanation, but at once 
understood their real meaning : "For to them it 
was given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of 
heaven." J It was therefore enough for our Divine 
Lord to relate those parables to the common people 
without giving an explanation ; they could learn that 
afterwards, when the divinely-appointed teachers — 

* St. Matt. xiii. 10. t Ibid. xiii. 12, 13. $ lb. xiii. 11. 



24 



Introduction, 



viz., the Apostles and their successors — commenced 
to exercise their ministry, "teaching them to ob- 
serve all things whatsoever He had commanded 
them." * 

The Bible tells us it was given to the Apostles to 
know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven either 
in parables or plain words. If that was so (and who 
will doubt it ?) 3 who has it now ? And to whom is it 
given, if not to their legitimate successors, who were 
to continue the work which the Apostles had begun, 
even to the consummation of ages ? 

If, then, the kind reader of these pages finds in 
them a more accurate, faithful, and thorough ex- 
planation of our Lord's parables than he ever receiv- 
ed from any sectarian preacher, let him bear in mind 
that the bishops and priests of the Catholic Church 
are the legitimate and only true successors of those to 
whom the Saviour said: " To you it is given to know 
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them 
it is not given." 

I have selected for exposition only those of the 
parables that relate to Catholic dogmas controverted 
by the sects, and I pass over those which contain only 
lessons of morality never impugned or denied by any 
one bearing the name of Christian, at least in theory. 
I must confess, also, that my attention was drawn to 
this subject by reading the Essays of His Eminence 
Cardinal Wiseman wherein he treats of the parables. 
I have taken them as the subject of my discourses in 
many places, and the great popularity which they ob- 
tained among Catholics and Protestants affords me 
sufficient hope that, when printed and published in 
book-form, they may contribute in bringing to the 

* St. Matt. nit. 



Introduction. 



25 



path of truth, which leads to life everlasting, many 
whom my feeble words could never reach, provided 
they not only love to read, but also to follow, what 
the Bible teaches. 

While penning these lines there came into my 
hands a new edition of an old German pamphlet, 
printed in 1736, entitled Der Katliolische Lutheraner 
(The Catholic Lutheran), in which the author, quot- 
ing Luther's own words from the original editions of 
his works, irref ragably proves that, without departing 
one hairVbreadth from Luther's teaching, a Lu- 
theran Protestant may adopt the Catholic religion. 
To explain this paradox I must state that whoever 
peruses Luther's writings, from beginning to end, 
will find that there is not a single point of Catholic 
doctrine which he denies or attacks in one place 
which he does not defend or assert in some other part 
of his works ; and learned men, judging Luther im- 
partially from his own writings, agree in the verdict 
that if Luther was not actually insane, at least from 
time to time, he never believed fully in his own teach- 
ing, and in his heart was always convinced of the 
truth of the Catholic religion. They distinguish 
between Luther the Eeformer and Luther the private 
Christian. As a Eeformer, in the heat of excitement, 
especially when attacked by his Catholic opponents, 
he shrank from attacking or denying no point of 
doctrine which, in his calmer moments, as a private 
individual or in controversy with non-Catholic rivals, 
he maintained and defended. These quotations from 
Luther I have added in notes wherever an opportuni- 
ty presented itself, for the benefit of those who would 
rather believe what Luther the great Eeformer him- 
self believed than what he taught in his new Gospel. 



26 



Introduction. 



With respect to style and language, I have followed 
the same method which I endeavor to follow in pub- 
lic preaching — viz., to speak plainly and simply, so as 
to enable • even the most illiterate to understand me. 
Learned and unlearned understand plain talk, but 
high-flown language is often not understood by the 
latter. They are the lambs of Christ's flock, and con- 
sequently must be nourished with the bread of in- 
struction as well as the learned, since there is no re- 
spect of persons before God. 

Should this work fall into the hands of any person 
desirous to see it in better style or language, I beg of 
him, if he is a man seeking the glory of God and the 
true happiness of America, to rewrite it in his own 
style ; and if he provides our Catholics and non- 
Catholics with a better book on the subject, we shall 
thank him exceedingly, and praise and bless God for 
His goodness towards us. " To Him be glory both 
now and unto the day of eternity. Amen" * 



2 St. Peter iii. 18. 



SECTION I. 



PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 



1 A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and 
fell among robbers, who also stripped him : and having wound- 
ed him went away leaving him half dead. And it chanced that 
a certain priest went down the same way : and seeing him, 
passed by. In like manner also a Levite, when he was near the 
place and saw him, passed by. But a certain Samaritan being 
on his journey, came near him : and seeing him was moved with 
compassion. And going up to him, bound up his wounds, 
pouring in oil and wine : and setting him upon his own beast 
brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next 
day he took out two pence, and gave to the host, and said : 
Take care of him : and whatsoever thou shalt spend over and 
above, I at my return will repay thee." — St. Luke x. 30 to 35. 



CHAPTER I. 

FALLEN MAST REPRESENTED UNDER THE FIGURE OF 
THE WOUNDED TRAVELLER. 

WE read in the Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ ac- 
cording to St. Luke that, on a certain occa- 
sion when our Divine Saviour was engaged in instruct- 
ing His disciples, a lawyer, or doctor of the divine 
law, was present, and, astonished by the sublime les- 
sons of wisdom and knowledge which flowed from the 

lips of Jesus, as well as troubled, fearing the supe- 

27 



28 



The Good Samaritan. 



rior gifts of intellect which lie discovered in the new 
Teacher should eclipse his own talents and learning, 
and no longer able to control the envious spirit that 
possessed him, he determined to interrupt the beau- 
tiful discourse by asking a question. The Scripture 
says he "stood up tempting Him." Here it is evi- 
dent from the word tempt that he had no good nio- 
• tive in asking the question, his object being to try to 
embarrass our Lord by some subtle questions, which 
he could do with a human creature like himself, and 
thus have an occasion to display his " little " learn- 
ing, which had acquired for him the title of " doctor 
of the divine law," and which was not sufficient to 
save himself, much less to save others. He was con- 
vinced that he knew everything, like many of our 
modern divines, who cannot believe in the infallibility 
of the Church, because they would have to cease to 
believe in their own infallibility ; he had nothing to 
learn, but he pretended not to know. Like Satan him- 
self, and every other tempter and seducer, he had a 
question to ask : " Master, what must.1 do to possess 
eternal life ? " Our Saviour, who read his thoughts, 
made him answer his own question by saying, "What 
is written in the law"; as if He said, Are you not 
sufficiently instructed to know what the law requires? 
Mortified by the rebuke, he proposed another ques- 
tion, and the holy Gospel tells us expressly why he 
did so — that he might justify himself. In answer to 
this latter our Divine Lord related the above beauti- 
ful parable, from which this doctor of divinity only 
gathered the simple truth that all men were his 
neighbors, while he failed to discover the great and 
important mysteries that were thus veiled from his 
malicious gaze, and the meaning of which it was 



The Good Samaritan. 



29 



not given him to understand, for the reason that he 
was not sincere with Almighty God. Even in our 
own day it is a remarkable truth that men who are 
not sincere in seeking the truth are never done ask- 
ing questions ; and even if you silence them, as our 
Divine Lord did on this occasion, you have reason to 
doubt whether you have convinced them. " Seeing 
they see not, neither do they understand," for imme- 
diately after they will speak and act as if you had 
never said a word about the truth in their hearing. 
The ancients used to say of such, "Non persuadebis 
etiamsi persuaseris " (you will not persuade them, 
even if you persuade); and St. Paul says, "The sen- 
sual man perceiveth not these things that are of the 
Spirit of God : for it is foolishness to him, and he can- 
not understand: because it is spiritually examined."* 
The lawyer who tempted our Lord was one of those 
sensual men ; hence all he learned from the parable 
of the good Samaritan was the plain truth that every 
man, without distinction of creed or nationality, is 
our neighbor, whom we are bound to love as our- 
selves. This was enough, and more than enough, for 
him. Whether he afterwards loved the Samaritans, 
who differed from him in religion, as well as himself 
we cannot say ; but let us hope he did, and return to 
examine the beautiful picture drawn by our Divine 
Saviour on that occasion "for our learning." It is 
one of the "things that are of the Spirit of God," 
and, if "spiritually examined," we shall find the fall 
of our first parents, the helpless condition of the hu- 
man race until the coming of Christ, the efficacy of 
the holy sacraments, the Church and the fulness of 
poorer granted to the Pope, as Vicar of Jesus Christ, 

* 1 Cor. ii. 14. 



30 



The Good Samaritan. 



for the salvation of mankind, all clearly represented 
in this parable. It would be a grievous mistake were 
we to suppose that the parables and sayings of Jesus 
Christ recorded in the Gospel had reference merely 
to those persons whom He addressed at the time ; 
" for what things soever were written, were written 
for our learning." * Hence it is that those to whom 
"it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom 
of heaven," the members of the true Church of 
Christ well instructed in their religion, find a vast 
deal more of information in the sacred text than 
those without, to whom " it is not given, because 
seeing they see not, hearing they hear not, neither 
do they understand." 

We shall now proceed to examine the first part of 
our parable : "A certain man went down from Jeru- 
salem to Jericho." Jerusalem is interpreted "the 
city of peace." And such was the terrestrial para- 
dise wherein God placed man in a state of trial after 
his creation ; and such also is our future heavenly 
home, which we shall reach as conquerors if we be 
faithful to our God during the combats and trials of 
this short life. "When God created man, man was at 
peace with his Creator, with himself, and with the 
outward world. He would never have been deprived 
of this happy condition, had he himself not turned 
away. 

Jericho was one of the principal cities of the prom- 
ised land, and the chief seat of the idolatrous worship 
of the country. When Josue approached at the head 
of God's chosen people, bearing the ark of the cove- 
nant, in presence of this emblem of the future Church 
to be established by the Messias the strong ramp^ts 

* Rom. xt. 4. 



The Good Samaritan. 



31 



and fortifications of J ericho crumbled into dust, and 
thenceforth it became the chief seat of the priesthood 
which Moses and Atiron had founded by the com- 
mand of God. It was called the " City of Palms," * 
and it is also recorded that a considerable trade in 
balsam was carried on there. 

Going from Jerusalem to Jericho in a downward 
direction denotes the fall or change from a state of 
perfection and close union with God, without pain or 
combat, to a state where perfection and salvation can 
only be obtained and the enemy defeated by vigi- 
lant and constant warfare under the aid and guidance 
of the priests of the Church, the true ark of the 
covenant, the mystical sanctuary and habitation of 
God with men, together with the application of heal- 
ing balsam used by the priesthood for the cure of 
our spiritual wounds. When man of his own free 
will left his first happy state by which Divine Provi- 
dence wished to lead him to spiritual perfection, 
there was a second state reserved for him by the 
mercy of God, that he might not perish altogether. 

"He fell among robbers, who also stripped him, 
and, having wounded him, went away leaving him 
half dead." Our Saviour calls the devil "a mur- 
derer from the beginning " ; f hence these robbers 
were demons of hell, who, envying the happy state of 
man in the terrestrial paradise, succeeded in seducing 
him to fall away from God. As long as he was faith- 
ful to God he stood ; when he turned away from 
God by disobedience he fell, and "fell among rob- 
bers, who also stripped him." This supposes that 
he was clothed and adorned with the choicest gifts 
superadded to the gifts of nature ; for he was also 

* Deut. xxxi y. 3. t St. John viii. 44. 



32 



The Good Samaritan. 



ivounded in his natural faculties, and left in a state 
of utter inability to raise himself up either to go to 
Jerusalem or Jericho. Behold here the Catholic doc- 
trine about the fall of man and his condition imme- 
diately after the fall. 

In order to create man it was not necessary that 
God should bestow on him any more particular gifts 
than a human soul endowed with intellect, memory, 
and will, and a human body such as we brought into 
the world when we were born. A human body and 
a human soul constitute the nature of man, and this 
was all man could claim in order to be a man. But 
if this alone were sufficient for man, it was not so for 
an infinitely good and liberal God. As man was to 
be the masterpiece of God's visible creation, the con- 
necting link of the natural with the supernatural 
world, and so truly the child of God's love and good- 
ness, the Almighty did not fail to lavish on him the 
most precious gifts of nature and grace suitable to 
his condition and final destination. The first and 
chief among these was His divine grace, which at 
once raises man above the rank of mere natural 
beings, and, as St. Peter says, makes him a "partaker 
of the divine nature " ; * hence we read from the 
beginning: "And the Lord God formed man of the 
slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the 
breath of life, and man became a living soul. " f 
That there is more than the mere natural life to be 
understood here is evident from the use of the 
expression, "a living soul" — otherwise the word liv- 
ing would be quite superfluous ; for a soul, to be a 
soul, must be living a natural life. But it may live 
a natural life and be dead supernaturally, being de- 



* 2 St. Peter i. 4. 



t Gen. ii, 7. 



The Good Samaritan. 



33 



prived of the grace of God, which in holy Scripture 
is called life — "life everlasting"; "If thou wilt 
enter into life "; * and again: " He that believeth in 
me hath everlasting life." f Hence, also, it is said : 
"Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, 
Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor." J 
Now, honor and glory, strictly speaking, are due to 
" God alone ";§ yet when God conferred His divine 
grace upon man, and thereby made him partaker of 
His divine nature, "He crowned him with honor and 
glory." Moreover, it is said that God made man to 
"His own image and likeness." || The holy Fathers 
of the Church explain this in the following manner: 
The image of God consists in the three natural 
powers of the soul, intellect, memory, and will; the 
likeness is effected by the grace of God superadded 
to these three natural gifts. As a painter who desires 
to represent a person on canvas will give a sufficiently 
distinct image of the one to be represented by draw- 
ing the outlines, so Almighty God, in giving to the 
human soul intellect, memory, and will, made it an 
image of Himself. Then, as a skilful artist, wishing 
to give his work a greater perfection, is not satisfied 
with merely drawing the outlines, but makes use also 
of brush and paint, and every line he draws with 
them makes the image more like to him whom he 
represents — in other words, he improves the like- 
ness — so also our merciful and all-wise Creator was 
not satisfied with bestowing on the human soul only 
the natural powers of intellect, memory, and will as 
His image ; He wanted this image to be more and 
more like Himself, and therefore added the gift of 



* St. Matt. xix. 17. t St. John vi. 47. % Ps. viii. 6. 

§ 1 Tim. i. 17. 1! Gen. i. 26. 



34 



Tlie Good Samaritan. 



divine grace, that, by co-operating with this grace, we 
might deserve other graces, partake more and more of 
the divine nature, and be gods and sons of the "Most 
High." As a tender and virtuous father rejoices 
exceedingly to see his children, as they advance in 
years, developing each day not only a resemblance of 
his own features, but also of his character and virtues, 
so also the Lord God rejoiced in man, whom He had 
made to His own image and likeness, when He saw 
him progressing in wisdom and grace. Bat, although 
the grace of God is the highest and choicest gift 
which His goodness can bestow on a creature, it was 
not the only supernatural gift conferred on man at 
his creation. The Bible tells us : " He created in 
them the science of the spirit, he filled their heart 
with wisdom, and showed them both good and evil/* * 
From this we learn that Adam did not come forth 
from the hands of his Creator in that state of utter 
ignorance in which we are born, for "He created in 
them the science of the spirit" — i.e., their spirit and 
mind were replenished with an amount of science 
which they had not labored to acquire by the exertion 
of their mental faculties, as we are obliged to do at 
present, but which was created with the spirit, and 
therefore supernaturally infused into their minds. 
How vast this knowledge must have been we can 
infer from the single fact that Adam was able in- 
stantly, at first sight, to call everything by its proper 
name: for we read in the book of Genesis: "And the 
Lord God having formed out of the ground all the 
beasts of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, 
brought them to Adam to see what he would call 
them: for whatsoever Adam called any living crea- 

* Ecclns. xvii. 6. 



The Good Samaritan. 



35 



ture, the same is its name." * Now, it would not be 
its proper name if it did not fully express the nature 
and end of that creature to which it was given ; and 
Adam never could have given to every living thing 
its appropriate name unless he thoroughly understood 
its nature. Plato, the great philosopher, has said 
that "he was the wisest man who could call every- 
thing by its name." Well, such a man was Adam. 
There never was another like him, except the adora- 
ble person of Jesus Christ. Moreover, this superna- 
tural, and therefore divine, knowledge secured him 
against error. For error consists in attributing to a 
thing a property which does not belong to it. Though 
Adam did not know all things (he was not omnis- 
cient), yet he made no mistake regarding the things 
which he did know. Error only entered his mind 
when he sinned. Here we find that besides the first 
and chief gift of God, His divine grace, there was 
a second supernatural gift imparted to man — viz., an 
infallible, divine, infused knowledge free from mis- 
takes and errors. 

"He filled their heart with wisdom, and showed 
them both good and evil." f The human heart is 
considered as the seat of the affections. and volitions. 
A heart is wise when its longings and desires are 
regulated and controlled by reason ; but it is a foolish 
heart when it discards reason and gives its desires 
unbridled liberty. When, therefore, holy Scripture 
says that God filled the hearts of our first parents 
with wisdom, it thereby teaches that there was no 
such conflict between man's spiritual and carnal 
nature as at present in our fallen state, and which 
the Apostle St. Paul describes to us in these words : 

* Gen. ii. 19. t Ecclus. xvii. 6. 



36 



TJie Good Samaritan. 



" The flesh lusteth against the spirit : and the spirit 
against the flesh ; for these are contrary one to an- 
other."* Hence, while man remained faithful to 
God his superior powers had perfect control over his 
inferior nature ; the body was subject to the spirit, 
and the spirit obeyed its Creator. 

This perfect subordination of man's inferior nature 
to the superior powers of the soul was a third super- 
natural gift granted by God to our first parents ; by 
this they were capable of exercising absolute control 
over their passions. And although man's body was 
formed from the slime of the earth, composed of 
various substances naturally liable to a chemical pro- 
cess of decomposition that would cause pain and 
death, yet, by a special privilege of Almighty God, 
he was exempt from pain and death as long as he 
obeyed the will of his Creator ; and that will was made 
known to him in this simple command : "Of the 
tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat. 
For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou 
shalt die the death." f Finally, he was placed in a 
paradise of pleasure ; and we may imagine, or rather 
we cannot conceive, what a delightful paradise this 
was when the Almighty Himself planted it for no 
other purpose than that of being a paradise of pleasure. 

Not to speak of other advantages derived from this 
happy condition, we see that, besides the attributes of 
human nature, Almighty God, in His infinite good- 
ness and liberality, adorned and perfected man with 
five supernatural privileges by no means due to his 
nature, but superadded to the gifts of nature: 1st, 
divine grace, or supernatural life of the soul, by 
means of which he lived (though still on earth) 

* Gal. v. 17. t Gen. ii. 17. 



Tlie Good Samaritan. 



37 



for heaven ; 2d, supernatural knowledge, not ac- 
quired, but infused into him at his creation ; 3d, 
perfect submission of the inferior man to the supe- 
rior, of the body to the soul ; 4th, impassibility, or 
exemption from all pain and sorrow ; 5 th, immor- 
tality of the body as well as of the soul, if the 
latter persevered in the supernatural life of grace. 

Now to return to our parable. When man turned 
from God and fell among robbers, they stripped him 
of all these supernatural gifts and robbed him of 
them. They also ".wounded him, and went away 
leaving him half dead." No sooner had man sinned 
than he lost the beautiful robe of sanctifying grace 
with which his benign Creator had adorned him on 
the day of his creation. "For what participation 
hath justice with injustice ? or what fellowship 
hath light with darkness ? " * Adam and Eve were, 
as the seducer said, like the gods ; not like the God 
of heaven and earth, but like those who wanted to 
be gods and became devils. Like them they were 
deprived of their supernatural life and beauty, and, 
desirous to be gods, were instantly cast down from 
their place of honor to a state of degradation and 
misery. " The science of the spirit " created in 
them, exempting them from error, at once gave way 
to human opinion, which begot doubt, ignorance, and 
error ; and as the soul revolted against God, so the 
body revolted against the soul. Shameful passions 
arose ; they became aware that they were naked, 
whereas before, as St. Augustine says, holy innocence 
had clothed them ; and from, that moment out they 
were liable to labor, sufferings, and death. They died 
the death of the soul on the spot and at the very 

* 2 Cor. vi. 14. 



38 



Hie Good Samaritan. 



moment they consented to sin, for they lost the 
grace of God, which is the supernatural life of tbe 
soul ; from that instant the body, no longer immor- 
tal, was destined to perish and to return to the earth 
from which it was taken, there to sleep, amid the 
horrors of the grave, till the end of ages, when the 
sound of the archangel's trumpet shall summon it 
from its unbroken slumber. 

But these infernal robbers who seduced man not 
only stripped him of all supernatural gifts, but also 
wounded him. After being despoiled of every super- 
natural gift he was wounded in his nature, in soul 
and body. To the nature of the soul belong intel- 
lect, memory, and will. The intellect was darkened. 
What obscurity and darkness already hovered over 
his mind when Adam thought he could hide him- 
self from the Almighty behind the trees of para- 
dise, and excuse himself by accusing another ! His 
memory was weakened ; he almost forgot that he 
was speaking to an omniscient God, who was present 
at the time and place of the transgression : ffl All 
their works are as the sun in the sight of God." * 
His will was inclined to evil, for Adam willed evil to 
Eve when he tried to excuse himself, and to throw} 
upon her alone the responsibility of a crime which 
he himself had committed. His body also became 
subject to infirmities, disease, and death. 

But if man's nature was thus enfeebled by sin, yet 
he was not so entirely depraved as to be destitute of 
all good. Man was wounded and left half dead, but 
not entirely crushed and destroyed. Although he had 
lost the grace of God and those other supernatural 
privileges mentioned above, there remained to him 

* Ecclns. xrii. 16. 



The Good Samaritan. 39 

still the gifts of nature ; and if these were also im- 
paired, they were not altogether dead : there was yet 
a faint breath of life remaining, which imparted to 
him the semblance of life. And this faint life, 
though in great danger of death unless speedy help 
be afforded, is still something good ; it is the natural 
life of man without the sanctifying grace of God. 
Therefore, if man is unable to help himself in this 
state, he is (not, indeed, by his own natural powers, 
but assisted by divine grace) at least able to call for 
help, and to accept proper treatment, when offered, 
for his recovery. Intellect, memory, and will, though 
much impaired by sin, are still the gifts of God, and 
good in themselves, as far as they are capable of go- 
ing, when not abused ; and as long as there is life 
there is always room for hope of recovery. It is true 
that man after sinning, and as long as he continues 
in the state of sin, is incapable of performing any 
good action deserving a heavenly reward. A su- 
pernatural end can only be obtained by supernatu- 
ral means ; natural means alone are not sufficient. 
Nevertheless he can perform many naturally good 
actions, which may move God to mercy and ob- 
tain for him the grace of conversion, and conse- 
quently sanctifying grace, which is his supernatural 
life. 

To say that a man in the state of sin can perform 
no good action whatever, and that all, even his best, 
actions are sins as long as he is not converted, is an 
absurdity, not to say a blasphemy against an infinite- 
ly just and merciful God ; for, were that the case, the 
best thing for the sinner to do would be to perform 
no good action at all, since, according to this doctrine, 
he would sin in doing good, and he would also sin by 



40 



The Good Samaritan. 



omitting to do good ; consequently he will be lost 
whether he does good or not. In that state even con- 
version would imply sin ; for, in order to be convert- 
ed, he must read or hear the word of God; he must 
meditate and reflect on it ; he must believe it and re- 
solve to obey it ; he must repent for his past sins ; 
he is obliged to repair, as much as he can, the evil 
which he has caused by his sins ; he must pray and 
ask the assistance of God's grace, without which we 
can do nothing. All these are good actions, which 
are necessary to constitute a true conversion ; but if 
all his good actions are sins, these good actions that 
are to bring about his conversion are also sins. 
Hence he is not allowed to commit sin, neither is he 
permitted to think of conversion ; there is no alter- 
native left to shield the poor soul from destruction. 
Oh! what a truly damnable religion. How in the name 
of common sense is it possible that such an impious 
and ridiculous doctrine should find a majority of be- 
lievers in our enlightened country ? There are few 
Methodist or Baptist ministers, not to speak of many 
amongst other denominations of Protestants, who do 
not teach that all the good works a man performs, 
as long as he is not converted, are sins. How infi- 
nitely more rational and consoling is the teaching of 
the Catholic Church in this respect, as above stated! 
Though man may be stripped of every supernatural 
gift — for it is certain when he commits mortal sin 
he loses divine charity — he may still retain divine 
faith and hope, unless he sin against these also ; he 
may be wounded in his natural faculties, but he is 
not as yet irreparably lost, as are the damned in hell. 
The good Samaritan may still rekindle the spiritual 
life ; for, as the Scripture says, " The bruised reed he 



The Good Samaritan. 



4:1 



shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not ex- 
tinguish/'* 

By sin man was left half dead on the journey of 
this life, which is his way to salvation or perdition; 
in this sad condition he cannot help himself, or re- 
gain his former state, without the assistance of some 
saving hand. He himself can fall and disobey God, 
but return to Him he cannot without assistance. And 
from whom shall he seek this help, and who can af- 
ford it, we shall see in the following pages. 



CHAPTER II. 

JESUS CHRIST, THE REDEEMER, REPRESENTED BY 
THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 

" And it chanced that a certain priest went down the same 
way : and seeing him, passed by. ' In like manner also a 
Levite, when he was near the place and saw him, passed 
by."— St. Luke x. 31, 32. 

ACCORDING- to the literal sense of the above 
text, this certain priest was a Jewish priest, 
who, in obedience to the law, had served his turn in 
the temple of Jerusalem and was on his way home to 
Jericho ; in the same manner also the Levite, who 
belonged to an order of clergy inferior to the priests, 
and whose duty it was to assist the priests in offering 
the sacrifices which the law prescribed. Here we 
have represented, in a mystical sense, the Jewish 
priesthood with its levitical rites and ceremonies, 
established by G-od, through Moses, as a temporary 
institution to last only till the coming of the Mes- 
sias. Neither had these Jewish priests and levites 

* St. Matt. xii. 20. 



42 



TJie Good Samaritan. 



any power to restore fallen man ; they went the 
same way from Jerusalem to Jericho ; they came near 
the place only to see and testify that man was fallen 
and needed a redeemer ; consequently, all the sacri- 
fices of the old law from the very beginning of 
the world were but types and figures of that aton- 
ing sacrifice which Jesus Christ, the God-man, once 
offered on Calvary in a bloody manner, and con- 
tinues to offer daily in the unbloody sacrifice of the 
new law, according to those words of the prophet : 
"From the rising of the sun to the going down, My 
name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place 
there is sacrifice, and there is offered to My name a 
clean oblation."* So, also, the Jewish priesthood, 
with its ancient rites, was destined to give place to 
the priests of the great " High-Priest according 
to the order of Melchisedech," f therefore they 
passed by ; for, although established by God, they 
were not a permanent institution, but awaited a 
sovereign and truly efficacious one, capable of im- 
parting health and salvation to poor fallen man 
left wounded and half dead on the wayside. 

"But a certain Samaritan being on his journey 
came near him ; and seeing him, was moved with 
compassion." On one occasion the Jews, blas- 
pheming our Saviour, said to Him: "Do we not 
say well, that thou art a Samaritan and hast a 
devil ? " Here they made two charges against 
Him — 1st, that He was a Samaritan ; and, 2d, that 
He had a devil. He cleared Himself of the latter 
charge, saying: "I have not a devil, but I honor 
My Father, and you have dishonored Me" ; J but He 
does not deny the first. The Samaritans differed 

* Mai. i. 11. + Ps, cix. 5. % St. John viii. 49. 



The Good Samaritan. 



43 



from the rest of the Jews in one point of doctrine: 
maintaining that the Lord God was to be wor- 
shipped on Mount Garizim, which was near their 
city, Samaria ; whereas the Jews maintained that 
only in their temple at Jerusalem could God he 
offered an acceptable worship. This religious dif- 
ference had at length reaahed a state of fanatical 
bigotry on both sides; so much so that even the 
Samaritan woman at Jacob's fountain was as- 
tonished that Jesus should ask her for a drink of 
water. "How dost thou, being a Jew, ask of me 
to drink, who am a Samaritan woman ? For the 
Jews do not communicate with the Samaritans. 7 '* 
Our Saviour not refuting the charge of being a Sa- 
maritan, insinuated thereby that He was to be the 
founder of a new religion, which would teach men to 
worship God, not in Jerusalem alone or on the moun- 
tain, but everywhere " in spirit and in truth " f — 
i.e., in the Holy Spirit that would animate His 
Church and live in every member thereof, "ask- 
ing for us," as the Apostle says, "with unspeak- 
able groanings" ; J "and in truth" — that is, Christ 
Jesus, our adorable sacrifice, which is the only 
true mode of worshipping God. The Samaritan 
did not ask the wounded man whether he w r as a 
Samaritan, or a Jew, or a Gentile ; independent of 
all such motives, he performs an act of charity. By 
this our Divine Lord teaches that charity, to be true 
charity, must be universal — that is catholic; if it 
makes distinctions on account of kindred or na- 
tionality, even of religion, it no longer deserves 
the name of charity : for to exclude any one who 
is needy, under such a pretext, is truly uncharitable. 

* St. John iv. 9. t Ibid. iv. 24, % Rom. viii. 26. 



44 The Good Samaritan. 



Hence you may speak of Protestant faith, Protes- 
tant hope, but there is no such thing as Protestant 
charity • for if charity protests it is no more charity 
but the opposite. True charity is essentially ca- 
tholic. 

" But a certain Samaritan being on his journey 
came near him." The life of Jesus Christ, the good 
Samaritan, on earth was only a journey, like our 
own existence. He came from the Father and 
lived in this world thirty-three years, then re- 
turned to the Father. Like ourselves, he had not 
here a lasting city, but when He came He came 
as near to fallen man as only a G-od made man 
could come. He took upon Himself our fallen 
nature with all its infirmities, sin only excepted. 
"He emptied Himself, taking the form of a ser- 
vant, being made in the liketiess of men, and in 
habit found as a man."* 

"And seeing him, was moved with compassion." 
What was it He saw ? What moved Him to com- 
passion ? Was it the brightness of man's intellect, 
the sagacity of his judgment, the keenness of his 
perceptions, the clearness and force of his reason, 
the perfection of his heart and sensibilities, his 
unspotted morality, and all the perfections of hu- 
manity, » which we hear so magnificently extolled 
by many preachers in their pulpits, to supersede 
divine faith altogether ? Oh ! no. He saw the 
pitiful state into which sin had plunged the hu- 
man race ; and this excessive misery, which no 
one could fathom better than Himself, moved Him 
to compassion, He saw man stripped of the sanc- 
tifying grace of God, that nuptial garment of 

* Phil. ii. 7. 



Hie Good Samaritan. 



45 



heavenly innocence without which no one can be 
admitted to the nuptials of the Lamb. " For 
nothing defiled can enter heaven." * He saw him 
stripped of all those supernatural gifts wherewith 
his Creator endowed him, without any means on 
his part to recover them. He saw how man, 
wounded in his natural faculties, plunged into the 
grossest errors, out of which his natural reason — 
which was obscured — with his weakened memory 
and perverted will could never extricate him. An 
experience of four thousand years proved beyond 
doubt that natural reason, left to itself, was un- 
able to establish with certitude even those religious 
truths which belong to its sphere, and which, ab- 
solutely speaking, it could have discovered had it 
never been biassed by prejudice or passion. God 
permitted human reason to err for the space of 
four thousand years, in order to convince this proud 
faculty of the soul that it was morally insufficient 
of itself and needed light from above. "For God 
hath concluded all in unbelief, that He may have 
mercy on all " f — that is, He found all nations, 
both Jews and Gentiles, in a state of unbelief, not 
by His causing, but by an abuse of their own free 
will, so that their calling is purely owing to His 
mercy. 

"And going up to him, bound up his wounds, 
pouring in oil and wine." Jesus Christ, the good 
Samaritan, did not come in the same direction as 
the wounded man, from Jerusalem to Jericho — He 
never fell. " For it was fitting that we should have 
such a High-Priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, sepa- 
rated from sinners, and higher than the heavens." J 

* Apoc. xxi. 27. + Rom. xi. 32. % Heb. vii. 26. 



46 



The Good Samaritan. 



"Going up to him." This supposes that He was 
lower than him ; and, in fact, though "higher than 
the heavens/' He emptied Himself, and in habit 
was found as a man. " He humbled Himself, be- 
coming obedient to death, even the death of the 
cross."* He humbled Himself that He might 
come as near as possible to fallen man. When 
man sinned he lowered himself beneath the con- 
dition of the irrational animals. "When man 
was in honor he did not understand : he is com- 
pared to senseless beasts, and is become like to 
them." f Hence it is that we find the good Sa- 
maritan, at His entrance on the journey of this 
life, placed in a stable between two beasts of 
burden. "The ox knoweth his owner, and the 
ass his master's crib : but Israel hath not known 
Me." J Yes, He, the Lord of glory, appears among 
the beasts of burden, in order to raise man from his 
degraded condition to the happy state of a child 
of God from which he had fallen. He humbled 
Himself to the lowest to raise us to the highest. 
He occupied the lowliest place at His entrance 
into the world — for there could not be a lowlier 
place than the crib in a stable between two ani- 
mals ; and He took the last place at His death, 
the place of public execution, being crucified be- 
tween two thieves, as the most guilty — for "the 
first of this world shall be last, and the last shall 
be first"; and if, like our Divine Lord, we humble 
ourselves, like Him, too, we shall be exalted. 

" He bound up his wounds." If these wounds were 
left unbound man would bleed to death. This bind- 
ing up is of absolute necessity. But what is meant by 

* Phil. ii. 7, 8. t Ps. xlviii. 13, 21. % Isaias i. 3. 



The Good Samaritan. 



47 



it ? We have seen that these wounds were inflicted 
upon the natural faculties of the soul. The intellect 
was wounded, and bled errors during four thousand 
years ; the memory was wounded, for it was weaken- 
ed, and retained sensual and sinful impressions much 
more easily than spiritual and holy ideas ; the will 
was wounded, for it was inclined to evil, refused to 
obey, and followed the impulse of its own evil in- 
clinations rather than the dictates of reason and the 
holy will of God. Jesus Christ, the good Samaritan, 
binds up these wounds when He binds the intellect, 
that restless faculty, to submit to faith and to be- 
lieve the truth which He teaches, whether this limit- 
ed intellect understands it or not. It must be suf- 
ficient for every created intellect to know that God 
said so to oblige it to comply — not only not to con- 
tradict the assertion, but not even to doubt what 
God says. Would to God our non-Catholic brethren 
would bear in mind this truth and give it their ut- 
most attention ! This would put an end to their 
vaunted privilege of private interpretation of the 
word of God. All right of discussion about the truth 
is confined to the simple question whether God said 
so or not, and not if this or that doctrine of Christ 
is true, or how it is to be explained in order to be 
understood ; for if God said so it must be true, and 
even if I cannot explain how it is so, nevertheless it 
must be true when God has said so. Hence we see 
throughout the Gospels that Jesus Christ makes use 
of proofs and reasonings only when there is question 
about His divinity or His divine mission; but when- 
ever He proposes a new doctrine of His own, a "mys- 
tery of the kingdom of heaven," He changes His 
language completely, and says, "Amen, amen, I say 



48 



The Good Samaritan. 



to you. 55 * He explains what He means, but demands 
implicit belief. He does not reason and argue on the 
subject ; the fact that He, the Son of God, says so 
must be sufficient. And even if "many of His dis- 
ciples went back and walked no more with Him/ 5 
He let them go, and when a voice was heard to say, 
"This saying is hard, and who can hear it?" He 
turns towards His Apostles and says : " Will you also 
go away? 55 f He would have dismissed them also, 
had they not professed their faith in the words of St. 
Peter: "Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the 
words of eternal life. And we have believed and have 
known that Thou art Christ, the Son of the living 
God." I He knew well that all men have not intel- 
lect enough to understand and follow arguments, and 
that even men of the keenest intellect and the bright- 
est intelligence are liable to go astray in their reason- 
ings ; but He knew at the same time that all men 
are capable of believing w r hat God says, no matter 
whether they understand it or not. In this man- 
ner He binds the intellect to believe His doctrine ; 
He stops the bleeding and cures the fatal error. 
He binds the intellect to the truth by the ties of 
moral obligation, and commands it to abide by it ; 
and reason, knowing that God said so, and, therefore, 
that it is certain truth, is satisfied and errs no more, 
thus "bringing into captivity every created under- 
standing to the obedience of Christ." § In the same 
way the memory of man is bound to learn the teach- 
' ings of Christ as the doctrine of salvation, by means 
of which it is supplied with a fund of useful know- 
ledge and holy thoughts, which prevent false ideas 

* St. John iii. 5. t Ibid. vi. 68. $ Ibid. 69, 70. § 2 Cor. x. 5. 



Tlie Good Samaritan. 



49 



and sinful thoughts, so destructive to man's happi- 
ness both here and hereafter. 

The will also, though corrupt and inclined to evil, 
is bound up by the law of Jesus Christ and His holy 
Church, being strengthened to observe this divine 
law by prayer, the word of God, and, more than all, 
by the holy sacraments, the principal sources of 
heavenly grace. 

Here I may be allowed to say a few words in par- 
ticular to sincere and well-meaning Protestants who 
are not careless about their salvation or indifferent 
with regard to truth. No matter how strictly you 
may consider your will bound by the commandments 
of God, no matter how much you feel bound to read 
the Bible and store your memory with its contents, 
your soul is still wounded and bleeding, and will re- 
main so as long as you do not believe all and every- 
thing which Christ has taught, and which the Holy 
Catholic Church, established by Him to teach all na- 
tions, shall believe and teach to the end of time. 
But some will laugh at and scorn the idea of binding 
their will to the firm belief of a certain creed ; they 
prefer the fatal liberty to form their own opinion 
about divine truth, and to differ not only from the 
Catholic Church, but also from those of their own 
denomination. They admit that the word of God is 
infallible, or, in other words, that God is truth, and 
therefore cannot lie. Let them open their Bible and 
read from, the sixteenth chapter of St. Matthew, 
verse 18: "I say to thee, that thou art Peter, and 
upon this rock I will build My Church ; and the 
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. " See here 
the infallibility of the Church ; and again, from the 
concluding chapter and verse of the same Evange- 



50 



The Good Samaritan. 



list: " Behold T am with you all days, even to the con- 
summation of the world." We also read from the 
same Gospel, at the seventeenth verse of the eigh- 
teenth chapter • " If he will not hear the Church, let 
him be to thee as the heathen and publican." 

Now, I ask, san any man of sense who admits the 
Bible to be the word of God read the sacred texts I 
have just quoted and not adhere to or embrace the 
Catholic religion ? Here are the words of Christ ; 
and will man, the child of dust, the being of nothing- 
ness, whom He could crush with a mere glance — will 
he, I repeat, have the audacity to contradict his 
Maker ? Alas ! the awful fact is too true of those 
numerous sects that pretend to follow the teachings 
of the Bible. All, all are guilty of gainsaying their 
Creator, their Eedeemer, and their Judge. He has 
said the powers of hell shall not prevail against the 
Church of Peter and his successors, and they cry 
out, in the face of heaven and earth : It is true 
Christ said these words, but He did not keep His 
promise ; that hell did prevail against the Church ; 
and that, after a few hundred years, Christ, her 
founder, had abandoned her. He was not with her 
any more, though the consummation of ages was not 
yet come. It was no longer an obligation to hear the 
Church, for the promises made to her by the Al- 
mighty had failed, though God Almighty Himself 
declared that H heaven and earth shall pass away, but 
His word would not pass away." 

Thus any well-disposed person who reflects on the 
above texts will at once be convinced that, as sure as 
God is God, the Church did not err, cannot err, and 
never will err — the same yesterday, to-day, and for 
ever. Were it otherwise, then the word of God 



The Good Samaritan. 



51 



could not be relied on, to assert which would be blas- 
phemy and absurdity. The Church, then, is infalli- 
ble in what she teaches, because God is infallible, and 
demands from all her children a firm and unalterable 
belief in all and every article of faith,* from the 
days of her Divine Founder to the present time, and 
will continue so till the end of ages, according to the 
promises of Christ ; " thus bringing into captivity 
not only memory and will, but also every created un- 
derstanding unto the obedience of Christ/' We 
therefore obey with intellect,, memory, and will, 
whilst you offer but the memory and will, reserving 
to yourselves the understanding or intellect, the 
noblest portion of the soul ! 



CHAPTER III. 

JESUS CHEIST THE GOOD SAMARITAN — COKTOTUED. 

^"POUEING in oil and wine." Oil and wine are 
J- mentioned here as remedies for the wounds 
inflicted on fallen man; not balsam or any other 
substance naturally better adapted for healing bodily 
wounds. The reason of this choice of remedies is 
more appropriately explained by the mystical sense 
of the parable than by the literal sense. That by the 

* Here are Luther's own words on this subject, quoted from his Kurzen 
BeJcenntniss rom heiligen Sacrament (Short Treatise on the Holy Sacra- 
ment), written in the year 1544 : " Darumb heissts rund und rein, gantz und 
alles geglaubt, oder nichts geglaubt. Der heilige Geist lasst sich nicht 
trennen, noch theilen, dass er ein Stuck solt wahrhaftig, und das andere 
falsch lehren, oder glauben." (Therefore the question is round and pure 
[purely and simply], either to believe all whole and entire, or to believe 
nothing. The Holy Ghost cannot be rent or divided, so that he should 
teach or believe one part as true and the other as false.) 



52 



TJie Good Samaritan. 



wine is represented the Holy Eucharist, the ordi- 
nance of the Lord's Supper, as Protestants call it, 
there can be no doubt in the mind of any one who at 
all admits of a mystical sense of Scripture. Even 
those who believe that the elements of the Eucharist 
are only symbols of the body and blood of Christ 
must consider them as sources of spiritual life, if they 
have any faith in the words of our Divine Lord. 
" Amen, amen, I say to you, Except you eat the flesh 
of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you shall 
not have life in you. He that eateth My flesh, and 
drinketh My blood, hath everlasting life." * Catho- 
lics and Protestants, though at variance as to whether 
the consecrated wine be really the blood of Christ or 
only a symbol of it, at least agree on this point : that 
the wine which Jesus gave was to give everlasting- 
life to the soul, dead by sin, and therefore is a true 
and proper remedy, applied by the good Samaritan 
to poor wounded man. You find the wine as such in 
Catholic and Protestant churches ; but where is the 
oil? If the material wine is given as a remedy for 
sinful souls, it would not do to say that by the oil 
is understood the spiritual unction of prayer and 
preaching to the sinner. If the w T ine is understood 
to be material wine, the oil must be so likewise. 
Even when Christ sent forth His Apostles on their 
trial mission, without scrip, or bread, or money, the 
Scripture says: "And going forth they preached 
that men should do penance ; and they cast out 
many devils, and anointed with oil many that were 
sick, and healed them." f 

In the Catholic Church, and in all sectarian 
churches not Protestant, even those which date 

* St. John vi. 54, 55. t St. Mark vi. 12, 13. 



The Good Samaritan. 



53 



back to the earliest days of Christianity, the holy oil 
is used not only for sacramental purposes, as in Bap- 
tism and Confirmation, but also in consecrating the 
altar-stones, churches, sacred vessels, and church- 
bells ; even kings, bishops, and priests are anointed. 
Particular use is made of it in the holy sacrament of 
Extreme Unction where there is really question about 
the half-dead man, since it is given only to persons 
in danger of death by sickness ; and all Christians 
from the time of the Apostles to the present (except 
Protestants) use holy oil especially consecrated for 
that purpose, to fulfil the ordinance of Christ, pro- 
mulgated by St. James the Apostle : "Is any man 
sick among you, let him bring in the priests of the 
Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him 
with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer 
of faith shall save the sick man, and the Lord shall 
raise him up ; and if he be in sins they shall be for- 
given him." * If sins are forgiven thereby, then the 
grace of God, which is man's supernatural life, is 
given and imparted to the sick by the prayer of 
faith which the priest repeats in anointing him with 
oil, not after any method he might please to adopt, 
bat in the name of the Lord — in the name of Him 
who causes the efficacy of Baptism and the Eucha- 
rist. Now, go through all the Protestant denomina- 
tions ; you will not find amongst them a single sect 
that makes use of holy oil in the name of the Lord, 
whether in sickness or in health ; and yet the good 
Samaritan uses both mine and oil as a remedy for 
fallen man.f Who, then, is nearest to his example — 



* St. James v. 14, 15. 

tin his sermon on the New Testament (torn. L, Jen., fol. 335a) Luther 
admits Extreme Unction as a sacrament, like the Eucharist and Baptism : 



54 



The Good Samaritan. 



the Catholic, who lets wounded intellect, memory, 
and will be bound up, and wine and oil poured into 
his wounded soul ; or the Protestant, who refuses to 
hear anything about binding his intellect, and rejects 
the precious oil which the good Samaritan adminis- 
ters to poor wounded man for the health and salva- 
tion of his soul ? 

Then " setting him on his own beast, he brought 
him to an inn, and took care of him." As man is 
composed of a soul and body, and the body by nature 
belongs to the animal kingdom, I do not speak 
irreverently if I say that by his oivn least the Son of 
God made man understood His own human nature. 
For in order to reunite fallen man with the Deity, 
from whom sin had separated him, He took upon 
Himself our human animal nature as well as our 
human soul ; and He unites Himself, Humanity and 
Divinity, with our nature by means of the holy sacra- 
ment of the Eucharist, the sacrament of His real 
Body and Blood, united with His Soul and Divinity. 
" As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by 
the Father, so he that eateth Me, the same also shall 
live by Me."* As I, the Son of God, live by the 
Father, being one substance and essence with Him, 
and existing by Him, so he that eateth Me, the Son 
of God made man, shall be made one with Me, and 
shall live by Me. 

According to Protestant teaching, the human body 

" Wir miissen die Messen lassen bleiben ein Sacrament und Testament, 
welche nicht sind, noch mogen Opfer sein ; so wenig als die andere Sacra- 
ment, Tauff, Firmung, Buss, Oehlang, etc." (We must let the Masses re- 
main a sacrament and testament, which are not nor may not be a sacrifice, 
but like the other sacraments, Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, Unction, 
etc.) 
* St. John vi. 58. 



The Good Samaritan. 



55 



and blood of Jesus Christ had a comparatively short 
task to perform. They were assumed by the Son of 
God to suffer and die for us, and to pay the ransom 
of our redemption; after that they were taken up 
into heaven, and there all their action in the work of 
our sanctification ceases. If Christ continues to 
occupy Himself about us, it is only as God that He 
is represented to approach us. As God He forgives 
sins, as God He gives grace, as God only He metes 
out rewards or punishments ; His real human Body 
and Blood themselves take no further part in the sal- 
vation of mankind. 

The Catholic doctrine on this point is quite differ- 
ent ; it teaches that the real Body and Blood of Jesus 
Christ, united, as it is, with His Soul and Divinity, 
still remain the chief fountain of life for the Chris- 
tian soul during its earthly warfare. This real Body 
and Blood, under the forms of bread and wine, are 
given to us in the desert of this world, as the manna 
was formerly given to the chosen people of God in 
the desert of Arabia. As long as the Jews were on 
their journey to the promised land they were fed by 
God with this heavenly manna, which served as food 
and medicine. " There was not among their tribes 
one that was feeble. 5 '* Let us now hear the words 
of St. Paul on this subject : "The chalice of bene- 
diction, which we bless, is it not the communion of 
the blood of the Lord ? and the bread which we break 
[according to the ordinance of Christ], is it not the 
partaking of the body of the Lord?" And again: 
"We being many are one bread, one body"f — a ^ 
being incorporated, as it were, in this living bread 
and become one with it. St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alex- 



* Ps. civ. 37. 



1 1 Cor. x. 16, 17. 



56 



The Good Samaritan. 



andria in the early part of the fifth century, writing 
against the heretics of his day, thus expresses himself 
in the fourth book of his commentaries on the Gospel 
of St. John: " Christ by His flesh hides in us life 
and a seed of immortality which destroys in us all 
corruption. " In the tenth book on the same Gospel 
he explains in the clearest terms the wonderful man- 
ner of our union with Christ in this august sacra- 
ment — not by affection, but by an incorporation, a 
blending together; for "if any one pour a drop of 
melted wax into another, he mingles the one with the 
other throughout ; so he also who receives the flesh 
and blood of the Lord becomes so united with Him 
that Christ is found in him and he in Christ 99 
(chapter vii.) Christ, by His immortal and most 
holy flesh and blood, quickens, purifies, and heals 
the weakness and infirmity of our flesh, and causes 
us to live by Him, as He lives ly the Father * For, 
although exalted in heaven at the right hand of the 
Father, He is still our " High-Priest for ever, accord- 
ing to the order of Melchisedech " f (who offered 
bread and wine as a sacrifice) ; and "from the rising 
of the sun even to its going down He offers up one 
sacrifice for the remission of sin " J — that clean 
oblation which was to supersede all the ancient sac- 
rifices, and is offered to the name of the Lord every- 
where among the Gentiles (i.e., nations that are not 
Jews).§ Thus it is that the sacred Humanity of 

* St. John vi. 58. t Ps. cix. 5. % Malachi i. 11. 

§ Luther, in his commentary on the 109th Psalm, writes as follows (torn, i., 
Jena, fol. 95b): "Melchisedech war ein Konig und Priester, und opffert 
Wein und Brod auch fur den heiligen Propheten Abraham, und fiir sein Ge- 
sind. In welcher Figur bedeutet wird, dass kein Heiliger so fromm ist, wan 
sich Christus nicht fiir ihn opffert, so wiirde er verdammt." (Melchisedech 
was a king and priest, and offered wine and bread also for the holy prophet 
Abraham and his servants. In which figure is signified that there is no 



The Good Samaritan. 



57 



Jesus Christ continues the work of His incarnation 
and our redemption by offering for us a perpetual 
sacrifice. Thus He elevates our fallen human nature, 
through His human nature, to a union with His 
Divinity, verifying His own last wish : "That they 
all may be one, as Thou, Father, in Me, and I in 
Thee ; that they also may be one in us : . . . that 
they may be one, as we also are one." * In this man- 
ner Jesus Christ prayed after the Last Supper, when 
His Apostles had received into their bodies the ador- 
able sacrament of the Eucharist, therefore His sub- 
stance into their substance; for "He that eateth Me, 
the same shall live by Me." f 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE GOOD SAMARITAN CON YETS THE TRAVELLER 
TO AN INN, WHICH IS A FIGURE OF THE TRUE 
CHURCH. 

ii TIE brought him to an inn, and took care of 
him." An inn is a place of shelter for the 
accommodation of travellers. If hungry, thirsty, 
or weary, they are refreshed there ; if sick, they are 
taken care of until able to continue their journey. 

saint so pious that if Christ did not sacrifice Himself for him he would be 
condemned.) In the same work (fol. 96a) we read the following : " Nu was 
ist aber das Brod und Wein fiir Abraham geopffert ? Das deutet auff das 
Priesterthum Christi in dieser Zeit biss an den jiingsten Tag, da er das ver- 
borgne Sacrament des Altars seines heiligen Leichnambs und theuren Bluts 
opffert in der Christent:it." (But what was this bread and wine offered in 
sacrifice for Abraham ? It referred to the priesthood of Christ in our time, 
who offers, and will offer throughout Christendom, till the day of the last 
judgment, the sacrifice of His sacred Body and precious Blood in the hidden 
Sacrament of the altar.) 
* St. John xvii. 21, 22. t Ibid. vi. 58. 



58 



The Good Samaritan. 



Now, we are all travellers in this vale of tears ; there is 
no lasting city for us here ; we are journeying to our 
home beyond the grave, where two eternal homes 
await us ; one or the other will, and must, be ours — 
there is no alternative. One is an abode of perfect 
happiness, unchanging and everlasting as God Him- 
self; the other an abyss of eternal torments whence 
all hope is excluded. Xo man in his senses would 
expose himself to misery or torment which he fore- 
saw, and could easily avoid if he wished, even though 
this torment was only temporal, such as the evils of 
this transitory life. But since there is question of 
eternity, therefore it is the most important and essen- 
tial duty of every man, travelling to a home that 
will endure for ever, to seek out the narrow, strait 
way that leads to happiness, and, having found it, to 
persevere, in spite of all the obstacles which may 
impede his way or the fatigues he may have to bear. 
" For the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and 
the violent bear it away."* 

From these words of our Saviour it is evident that 
this road and this conquest are difficult for fallen 
man. But Jesus Christ, the good Samaritan, being 
moved with compassion for his misery, has provided 
the inn not merely for his shelter and refreshment, 
but also to direct the traveller in the safe and certain 
path that leads to life everlasting. This inn is His 
holy Church which He has established in this land of 
our pilgrimage ; here He leads fallen man whom He 
wishes to save, to be guided, as w r ell as healed and 
nourished, by the host whom He has appointed to 
govern it. Fear not, then, you who seek the truth 
wath sincerity, though wounded in every faculty and 

* St, Matt. xi. 12. 



The Good Samaritan. 



59 



stripped of every supernatural gift ; still if you hun- 
ger and thirst after justice, this good God who wills 
the salvation of all men will certainly lead you to 
this unfailing asylum, which the storms of time can 
never shatter, because He Himself has erected it, not 
upon the quicksands of human opinion about the 
truth, producing nothing but discord and division, and 
causing at length the total ruin of the building, but 
upon a solid rock, chosen and consolidated by Him- 
self for that purpose, so that even " the gates of hell 
shall not prevail against it." * 

As long as Jesus Christ Himself remained in this 
mortal life He took care of fallen, wounded man, 
and brought him to His inn (i.e., He joined him to 
His Church), attended to his wounds, and relieved all 
his wants. But He was on His journey, and therefore 
could not always remain visible on this earth ; hence 
we read in the parable : "The next day he took out 
two pence and gave them to the host." 

The time of our Lord's mortal life being the day 
in which He sought, found, and cared for poor 
wounded man, and this day ending with His death 
on the cross, the next commenced with His glorious 
Resurrection from the dead. What did He do on this 
first day of His immortal life ? He could not always 
stay with the wounded man in the inn. He was 
going to the Father. " Yet a little while I am with 
you : and then I go to Him that sent me." f But 
before going to Him that sent Him He provided for 
the poor wounded man w T hom He had brought to the 
inn. The next day " He took out two pence and gave 
them to the host." We have but to open the Gospels 
in order to see what He gave on that day of triumph, 

* St. Matt. xvi. 18. t St. John vii. 33. 



60 



The Good Samaritan. 



the beginning of the never-ending day of his glorious 
immortality. There we shall see what are the two 
pence, and who is the host and what commission He 
received. When Jesus appeared to His assembled 
disciples after His Resurrection, the doors being- 
shut, He stood in the midst and said to them, " Peace 
be to you. And when He had said this He showed 
them His hands and His side," to prove that it was 
He Himself who stood before them in the flesh. ' 4 He 
said therefore to them again : Peace be to you." * 
Who will say that this wish, " Peace be to you," was 
only an idle wish that had no consequences, just as 
that of a rich man who would wish a good-morning to 
a poor beggar, and let him go without giving him a 
penny to buy his breakfast ? The wish of Jesus 
Christ, " Peace be to you," was by no means an idle 
wish. He granted what He wished them, or at least 
gave the means to obtain it. Long before the 
prophets announced Him as the " Prince of peace." f 
At His birth the heavenly host of angels sang : 
" Peace on earth to men of good will." J He came 
on earth to establish peace between God and man, to 
reconcile the rebellious creature with his outraged 
Creator ; and no sooner has He paid the bloody ran- 
som and appeased the offended justice of God than 
He hastens to His disciples and announces peace to 
them and the terms of peace. He comes as an 
envoy of the Father: " As the Father hath sent Me, 
I also send you " § — for the same end, with the same 
powers, to continue the work which I began. 

" When He had said this, He breathed on them, and 
said to them : Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose 
sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them : and 

* St. John xx. 19-21. t Is. ix. 6. $ St. Luke ii. 14. § St. John xx. 21. 



The Good Samaritan. 



(Jl 



whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." * Be- 
hold here the two pence which Jesus Christ, the 
good Samaritan, takes out of the treasury of His 
mercies. It is the power of forgiving sins or retain- 
ing them, so appropriate and necessary for the cure 
and restoration of the half-dead man who had fallen 
among robbers, and who was stripped and wounded 
by sin. " He breathed on them " to signify what He 
was about to confer on them ; for as the breath pro- 
ceeding from the mouth of Christ mingled with the 
air which the disciples inhaled, so also the Holy 
Ghost, who is God, and by whose power sins are for- 
given, proceeded from Him and was communicated to 
them. ' But for what purpose? Jesus Christ Him- 
self explains it: "Whose sins" (now, when you 
have received the Holy Ghost from My lips with the 
breath of My mouth) "you shall forgive, they are 
forgiven them : and whose sins you shall retain " (or 
not forgive), "they are retained." Hence these two 
pe?ice are the power of binding and loosing which 
Jesus Christ gave to St. Peter to be communicated 
by him to the other Apostles: "Whatsoever thou 
shalt bind on earth, it shall be bound also in heaven : 
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be 
loosed also in heaven." Now, if the good Samaritan 
bound up the wounds of fallen man, it is no wonder 
that He gives this power of binding and loosing to 
the host of the house ; for this power is necessary for 
the host of the inn, if he is to continue the good 
work commenced by the good Samaritan, f 

* St. John 22, 23. 

t Here I may properly quote what Luther wrote concerning the keys of 
St. Peter and the power he received from Christ. It is taken from his com- 
ments on the Gospel of St. John (torn, v., Jen., fol. 232b and 233a): "Chris- 
tus spricht doch ja hier klariich, er wolle die Schliissel Petro geben. Sagt 



02 



The Good Samaritan. 



•'"The host" of the inn is a distinct person from 
the good Samaritan • he has charge of the whole es- 

nicht, dass er zweierlei Schlussel habe ; sondern dieselbigen Schlussel, die er 
selbst hat, und keine andere hat, die gibt er Petro. Als solt er sagen : was 
gaffest du genen Himmel nach meinen Schlusseln ? horest du nicht, dass ich 
sie Petro gegeben habe ? es seynd wohl Himmeis-Schliissel, das ist wahr, 
aber sie seynd nicht im Himmel ; ich nab' sie hierunten auf der Erden ge- 
lassen, du solst sie nicht in dem Himmel oder irgend anderswo suchen, son- 
dern in Peters Mund flndeu, da hab ich sie hingelegt. Peters Mund ist mein 
Mnnd, seine Zung ist meine Schlussel Beutel, sein Ambt ist mein Ambt, sein 
Binden ist mein Binden, sein Losen ist mein Losen, seine Schliissel seynd 
meine Schlussel. Ich habe kein andere : was die binden, das ist gebunden, 
was die losen, das ist loss. Da haben wir nu was Schlussel sind, nemblich 
ein Ambt, Macht, oder Befehl von Gott der Christenheit gegeben, durch 
Christum dem Menschen die Siinden zu behalten, und zu vergeben. Den 
also spricht Chris tus, Matt. ix. : Auff dass ihr wisset, dass des Menschen 
Sohn Macht habe, Auff Erden die Siinde zu vergeben, sprach er zu den 
Gichtbnichtigen : Stehe auff, &c. ; und bald darnach : das Volk preisete 
Gott der solche Macht dem Menschem gegeben hat. Lass dich hie nicht 
irren das Pharisaisch Geschwatz, damit sich etliche selbst narren, wie ein 
Mensch moge Siinden vergeben, so doch die Gnad nicht geben kan, noch den 
heiligen Geist ? bleib du bey den Worten Christi, und seye du gewiss, dass 
Gott keine andere Weiss hat die Siinde zu vergeben, den durch das miind- 
liche Wort, so er uns Menschen bef ohlen hat. Wo du nit die Vergebung im 
Wort suchest, wirst du umsonst genen den Himmel gaifen nach der Gnad 
oder, wie sie sagen, nach der innerlichen Vergebung." (Here Christ says 
clearly He would give the keys to Peter. Say not that He has two sorts of 
keys ; the self -same keys which He Himself has He gives to Peter, and He 
has no others. As if He said : Why do you gape at heaven after My keys ? 
Hear you not that I have given them to Peter ? They are indeed the keys 
of heaven, it is true, but they are not in heaven. I have left them on 
earth ; therefore you should not seek them in heaven, nor anywhere else, 
but find them in Peter's mouth ; there I have deposited them. Peter's 
mouth is My mouth, his tongue the bag for My keys, his office is My office, 
his binding My binding, his loosing My loosing, his keys are My keys. I 
have no others ; what they bind is bound, what they loose is loosed. Here, 
now, we have what the keys are— namely, an office, power, or command 
given to the Apostles and their successors to retain the sins of men and to 
forgive them. For thus says Christ in the ninth chapter of St. Matthew : 
" That you may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive 
sins, He said to the man sick of the palsy: Arise, etc." And soon after 
the people praised God, who hath given such power to men. Be not mis- 
led by Pharisaical prating, whereby some make fools of themselves, how a 
man may forgive sins, since he cannot give the grace nor the Holy Ghost. 
Abide by the word of Christ, and be sure that God has no other mode of 
forgiving sins than by the word of mouth, by which He gave command to 
us men. If you do not seek forgiveness in the word you will gape at hea- 
ven in vain after grace, or, as they say, inward forgiveness.) 



The Good Samaritan. 



03 



tablishment, with everything in it ; he has to take 
care of and supply the wants of fallen human nature. 
As the inn is a figure of the true Church of Jesus 
Christ, so the host of the inn represents the supreme 
visible head of the Church — namely, St. Peter and 
his lawful successors, the popes. When our Lord 
called St. Peter, to the apostleship He changed his 
name, which was Simon, into that of Peter, which 
means a rock; and throughout the Old and New 
Testament, wherever God gave a name to an indi- 
vidual, that name signified what that person was or 
was to be. When the Almighty called the first man 
Adam — i.e., of dust — it signified that he would not 
be steady ; but when Jesus Christ chose Simon, 
whom He called Peter — a rock — He thereby sig- 
nified the unflinching stability of faith wherewith 
He endowed Peter and his successors in the Apos- 
tolic See. 

When St. Peter, enlightened from above, was 
the first to acknowledge the true character of 
Jesus Christ in those sublime words, "Thou art 
Christ, the Son of the living God/' our Divine 
Lord calls him blessed for it, and, in return, re- 
veals to him his own true character : " And I say 
to thee: Thou art [no more Simon but] Peter [a 
rock], and upon this rock I will build my Church." * 
He promises to give him the keys of the kingdom 
of heaven, the supreme power in His Church. The 
one to whom the keys of the house are entrusted 
governs the house. He gives liim the power of 
binding and loosing ; men are hound by obliga- 
tions, and also loosed from obligations. On a pre- 
vious occasion our Lord asked St. Peter: "Who 

* St. Matt. xvi. 18. 



64 



The Good Samaritan, 



thinkest thou is that faithful and wise steward* 
whom the lord hath set over his family to give 
them their measure of wheat in due season ? " * 
The one whom our blessed Saviour calls here the 
faithful and wise steward He calls in our para- 
ble the host of the inn, who presides over the 
whole establishment; for even when the disciples 
contended among themselves as to " which of 
. them should be the greater/' f our Lord does not 
say, No one among you is or will be greater than 
another, you are all alike, but He gives a lesson 
of humility to him . who would be the greater. 
Finally, on the day following His glorious resur- 
rection He ratifies anew the promises made to 
Peter, charging him with the care of His whole 
flock: "Feed My lambs"; and again, "Feed My 
sheep." I Here He entrusts to him not only the 
lamls, but men the sheep — consequently, the whole 
Church — not only to feed, but (according to the 
Greek text) to be the shepherd of His flock. Be- 
hold now him who in our parable is the host of 
the inn ! 

What did the good Samaritan give the host ? 
"He took out two pence, and gave to the host, 
and said : Take care of him : and whatsoever thou 
shalt spend over and above, I at my return will 
repay thee." He gave him all that He had. "All 
power is given to Me in heaven and in earth " for 
the salvation of mankind; and "as the Father 
hath sent Me, I also send you," with the same 
power, for the same end — to cure the fallen, 
wounded man. Do as I did whilst I was with 

* St. Luke xii. 42. t St. Luke ix. 46 and St. Matt. xx. 26. 

$ St. John xxi. 15, 17. 



The Good Samaritan. 



65 



you ; and if that which ' I gave you is not suffi- 
cient, go on, spare no expense, no trouble ; I on 
my return — when- 1 come to judge the living and 
the dead, aud to reward every one according to 
his works — 1 will repay thee. We see here plainly 
that the power given is unlimited ; it extends as 
far as good and truth extend. He has all power 
to do good and to propagate the truth ; but no 
power is given him to do wrong, or propagate 
falsehood. Power is given for the edification and 
sanctification of the Church, not for its destruc- 
tion, which would certainly take place were vice 
and error permitted. All that is granted to the 
host is without limits: "Whatsoever thou shalt 
bind, whatsoever thou shalt loose ; whose sins 
no matter what sins, no matter how many — "you 
shall forgive" or "you shall retain." There is in 
My treasury abundant grace and salvation for all 
the family of God ; but to assign the proper "mea- 
sure" and to determine the "due season" are left 
to the discretion of the faithful and wise steward 
— "the host of the inn." 

This truth puts an end to the murmurs of those 
who complain of so great an assumption of power 
by the popes. If our Lord Jesus Christ, the good 
Samaritan, laid no restrictions on the host, and 
even promised to repay whatsoever he should 
spend "over and above," it is certainly not al- 
lowed to any mortal creature to limit this "what- 
soever" according to the narrow views of private 
opinion. 

From all this it is clear and evident that our Di- 
vine Eedeemer, the good Samaritan, after His resur- 
rection, entrusted the care and restoration of fallen 



66 



The Good Samaritan, 



man to His holy Church on earth, which is in charge 
of the host of the house, the supreme pastor of the 
flock, St. Peter and his successors, the popes ; and 
that only in the true Church of Christ, the inn 
of the good Samaritan, can be found the proper 
refreshment and remedies for the evils which sin 
has brought on the human race. Hence all those 
who have sinned in Adam, those poor travellers 
who fell among robbers and were stripped of all 
supernatural gifts, wounded and left half dead, 
must not only come into the inn if they w r ish to 
save their souls, but must also submit to the 
treatment and direction which they receive there 
from the host and his subaltern officers. The 
pow r er of the two pence — of binding and loosing, 
of forgiving or retaining sins, as exercised in the 
practice of confession — must be resorted to until a 
cure is effected and the patient is able to go to 
his heavenly home spiritually sound and healthy; 
for "nothing defiled can enter"* into the king- 
dom of heaven. 

Suppose, now, that one of the patients whom the 
good Samaritan brought to the inn became dissatis- 
fied, and, gathering together the little strength he 
had, crawled away from the inn, and, with a medical 
book under his arm, said to himself : " I do not 
w r ant to stay any longer in that place, nor will I be 
any longer under the care and treatment of that host 
and his inferior officers. No one shall inspect my 
wounds or prescribe remedies for me ; I care not for 
their wine and oil, or anything else they have to cure 
me. I have my book, which contains prescriptions 
for all my evils. If I read it every day, and trust in 

* Apoc. ^xi. 27. 



The Good Samaritan. 



67 



the goodness and mercy of the good Samaritan, I shall 
be cured." What, dear reader, would you say or 
think of such a patient ? Well, the very same thing 
can be said of all those who left the true and living 
Church of Jesus Christ, rejected her sacraments and 
the authority of her visible head, protested against 
her teaching and laws as being strict and binding on 
the conscience, believing themselves safe and their 
salvation secure if they but read the Bible and trust- 
ed the Saviour. Oh ! how different would our para- 
ble sound were it to represent sectarian teaching. 
The man who fell among robbers would not only be 
stripped and wounded and left half dead, but rotten 
to the very core, since they believe that sin intro- 
duced total depravity. The good Samaritan, going 
up to him, would have poured wine into his wounds, 
but no oil, as oil is never used by the sects as a reme- 
dy against sin. He would not have bound up the 
wounds of his intellect, no matter how much He 
might bind the other wounds. He would have es- 
tablished as many inns as there are Christian sects in 
the world, with no host to preside, and no two pence, 
or anything to spend over and above. For, say they, 
all that is an assumption of power, an usurpation, a 
blasphemy, etc. 

Consider, on the other hand, how beautifully and 
appropriately every detail of this parable is explained, 
and suited to the teachings of the holy Catholic 
Church established by the good Samaritan, not for 
English-speaking, or German-speaking, or Eussian- 
speaking nations, but for all nations of the earth, 
without distinction of country or language. For as 
all have sinned in Adam, so all must enter the inn, 
and be cared for and directed by the host of the 



68 Nature of the True Ohurch. 

house until that final day when the archangel's 
trumpet shall call us to meet Jesus Christ, the good 
Samaritan, when He shall return in great power and, 
majesty to judge the living and the dead. 



CHAPTEE V. 

IMPORTANT REMARKS OK THE STATURE OF THE TRUE 
CHURCH. 

HAVING considered in the parable of the good 
Samaritan the fall of man and his restoration 
through Jesus Christ by means of His holy Church, 
we will now proceed to examine carefully that series 
of parables in which our Divine Lord and Master de- 
picts His own true Church, His kingdom on earth, 
so that every one who is not as blind and hard-heart- 
ed as the Scribes and Pharisees of old (who satv, and 
saw not, heard and did not understand) can see 
which is that Church wherein the good Samaritan 
takes care of fallen man, through the ministry of the 
host, until His return at the end of the world. 

In the thirteenth chapter of St. Matthew there 
are several parables recorded, commencing with the 
words, " The kingdom of heaven is likened," etc. 
Now, this cannot be the kingdom of God's glory, for 
there are no tares or bad fishes to cast out in that 
kingdom. It must of necessity be the Church of 
Jesus Christ on earth, the new-chosen children of 
God, who have superseded the people of the ancient 
law. 

It is called "the kingdom," in the singular num- 
ber, not in the plural number, kingdoms, for Jesus 



Nature of the True Church. 



69 



Christ founded but one Church, which is His king- 
dom; "and of His kingdom there shall be no end."* 
He does not call it a republic;, but a kingdom, thus 
describing the monarchical form of government 
which He gave to His Church. A kingdom is a 
country governed by a king ; and if the king does not 
preside over it in person, he governs it by means of a 
viceroy, who in everything represents the king, and 
governs the country according to the powers and 
laws received from the king. If nowadays we have 
so many Christian sects, each one calling itself the 
true Church of Christ, it is not because He founded 
them, but because "many revolted and did not re- 
main in the doctrine of Christ." f 

To say that all churches are good and pleasing in 
the sight of God, since they all believe in the same 
God and in His Son, Jesus Christ, whom He has sent, 
is the same as to say that provinces and individuals 
originally of the same kingdom, but revolting against 
their lawfully-constituted authorities and forming 
laws for themselves not sanctioned by the king, are 
just as agreeable to the king as those who were always 
faithful and submissive to him and to his ministers, 
and that it is enough to say to Jesus Christ, "Lord, 
Lord ! " in order to be saved, no matter how many of 
His doctrines one rejects, nor how many of His laws 
and ordinances are despised. He Himself answers : 
"Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall 
enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doth 
the will of My Father, who is in heaven, he shall 
enter into the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to 
Me in that day : Lord, Lord, have we not prophe- 
sied in Thy name ? " (and to prophesy does not only 

* St. Luke i. 33. 1 2 Ep. of St. John 9. 



70 Nature of the True Church. 

mean to foretell future things, but also to explain 
and discourse on religious matters), "and cast out 
devils in Thy name, and done many miracles in Thy 
name ? And then will I profess unto them, I never 
knew you : depart from Me, you that work iniquity/' * 
If the Apostle St. Paul says, u There must be also 
heresies," it is not because Jesus Christ approves of 
them, but He permits them only "that they also 
who are approved may be made manifest." f They 
are, as it were, the shades which serve to make what 
is light still clearer and more visible to the world. 
But shade is darkness, and nothing dark or defiled 
will ever be admitted into the kingdom of glory. 
" Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in you 
be not darkness." % 

If, then, Christ has established but one Church, 
which is His kingdom— "the kingdom of heaven"— 
and this Church has a monarchical form of govern- 
ment, behold here already a main feature of the 
holy Catholic Church. 

* St. Matt. vii. 21. 1 1 Cor. xi. 19, % St. Luke xi. 35. 



SECTION II. 



THE GOOD SEED AND TEE COCKLE. 



"The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed 
good seed in his field. But while men were asleep, his enemy 
came and oversowed cockle among the wheat and f went his 
way. And when the blade was sprung up, and had brought 
forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle. And the servants 
of the goodman of the house coming said to him : Sir, didst 
thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it 
cockle? And he said to them : An enemy hath done this. And 
the servants said to him : Wilt thou that we go and gather it 
up ? And he said : No, lest perhaps gathering up the cockle, 
you root up the wheat also together with it. Suffer both to 
grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will 
say to the reapers : Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into 
bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn." — 
St. Matt. xiii. 24, etc. 



CHAPTEK I. 

THE GOOD SEED REPRESENTS THE TRUE CHURCH, 
THE KINGDOM OE CHRIST OK EARTH; THE 
COCKLE IS A FIGURE OF THE NUMEROUS HER- 
ESIES WHICH HAVE SPRUNG UP SINCE ITS ES- 
TABLISHMENT. 

THE above parable is explained by our Divine 
*- Saviour Himself in the same chapter of the Gos- 
pel ; but as this explanation is very brief and given 
in a general way, the parable may be applied still 



72 The Good Seed and the Cockle. 



more aptly to the subject it was intended to repre- 
sent, as there are several particulars which our Lord 
left unexplained, and whose special meaning applies 
to the Church. In this parable our blessed Saviour 
gives us in advance outlines of the history of His 
Church, and her position and relation not only with 
regard to all iniquity in general, but to heresies and 
false doctrines with which the spirit of evil would 
endeavor to supplant, and even destroy, her if possible. 

" The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that 
sowed good seed in his field. " It is not necessary for 
me to mention that this man, who is called " the good- 
man of the house " (v. 27), is our Lord Jesus Christ 
Himself. The good seed is His doctrine ; and if He 
Himself says that " the good seed are the children of 
the kingdom " (v. 38), they are the fruit which the 
good seed has already produced. For what made 
them children of the kingdom ? It was the word of 
God, the true doctrine of Christ, which they believed 
and obeyed. The good seed being "wheat" the 
grains were all alike ; so also is the belief of every 
member of this kingdom, the true Church — all must 
be alike, otherwise they are excluded from the king- 
dom ; for there is not question of human opinion, 
earthly seed, but of divine faith, heavenly seed. 

This good seed is sowed in "the field," which, as 
our Saviour says, is the world ; for this whole world 
was given to Jesus Christ, that He might form to 
Himself "a people acceptable, a pursuer of good 
works " ; * a people that would think what He 
thought and will what He commanded ; and this peo- 
ple is chosen and picked out, as it were, from all 
nations of the earth, to constitute that glorious 

* Tit. ii. 14. 



The Good Seed and the Cockle. 



73 



Church which shall reign with Him in heaven for all 
eternity. , 

From the very beginning, then, one and the same 
good seed — wheat — was sown all over the world; 
that is, there was preached but one faith and one 
religion. ' Twenty-four years had not yet elapsed 
from the ascension of our Lord into heaven when 
St. Paul could write to the Romans: "Your faith is 
spoken of in the whole world/' * This is a fact that 
should be well remembered, for it proves that the 
religion of Christ was preached in the whole world, 
even before all the books of the New Testament were 
written, and that it was the Roman faith ; for if it 
were not known by all the people of the world, then 
it would not have been spoken of by them. 

" But while men were asleep, his enemy came and 
oversowed cockle among the wheat." Now, if the 
wheat represents the word of God, the true and 
genuine doctrine of Christ, the cockle certainly signi- 
fies the errors wherewith the spirit of darkness, who 
is "the father of lies," endeavored, in the course of 
time, to supplant the Church of Christ. And this 
happened "while men were asleep." For our 
Saviour foresaw that, when His Church was once 
safely planted all over the world, men would, give 
themselves up to a false security ; and even the " ser- 
vants of the goodman of the house," instead of being 
watchful, would fall asleep, and that the wicked 
spirit would avail himself of this as the fairest 
opportunity to sow cockle among the wheat. Alex- 
ander Campbell, founder of the Campbellite Baptists 
in America, and some other commentators, explain 
the Greek word signifying cocJcle as meaning a certain 

* Rom. i. 8. 



74 



The Good Seed and the Cockle. 



weed haying the appearance of wheat. Now, admit- j 
ting this interpretation to be correct, it serves to 
proye more clearly that error, in order to make itself 
acceptable to men, always endeavors to take the 
appearance of truth, and very often it requires a 
sharp and keen eye to detect its true nature. 

Since this is the case, how are we to secure our- 
selves against imposition in such an all-important 
matter as that of knowing the true religion of Christ, 
by which alone we can be saved ? How shall we dis- 
tinguish the cockle from the wheat when they are so 
much alike ? The answer is not difficult. You have 
only to believe in the words of your Divine Master, 
who is Sovereign Truth, and use your own natural 
common sense, and you cannot be led astray. You 
see in the parable that the wheat was sown first, 
and afterwards the cockle. So also any religion or 
church that does not date its origin from the time of 
Christ and His Apostles is not, and cannot claim to be, 
the true religion or Church of Jesus Christ, no matter 
how truthful it may appear, for the simple reason 
that it came too late. The apostolicity is wanting. 

It avails nothing to say that the true religion 
flourished for a few centuries without error or cor- 
ruption, and afterwards fell into error and became 
corrupt; * for we read: "When the blade sprang 

* In the year 1541, just five years before his death, Luther, writing on the 
infallibility of the Church, speaks as follows (torn, vii., Jen., fol. 416b) : 
' ; Darum kann und mag die heilige Kirche keine Liigen, noch falsche Lehr 
leiden, sondern muss eitel heilig, wahrhafftig, das ist, allein Gottes Wort 
lehren." "Eitel Gottes Wort, oder Warheit, muss die Kirche lehren, und 
wie konnte es auch anderst seyn, weil Gottes Mund der Kirchen Mund ist. 
Und wiederumb : Gott kann ja nicht liigen auch die Kirche nicht." (There- 
fore the holy Church cannot and may not bear lies nor false doctrines, but 
must teach only what is holy and truthful— that is, God's word alone. The 
Church must teach only God's word, or the truth. And how could it be 
otherwise ? Because the mouth of God is the mouth of the Church ; and, 



The Good Seed and the Cockle. 75 

up and brought forth fruit, then appeared also the 
cockle." The good seed, and the blade springing up 
from it, were not choked or destroyed by the cockle, 
neither were they changed into cockle, but continued 
to thrive and bring forth fruit — the fruit of everlast- 
ing life — when the cockle made its appearance. In 
other words, the true Church of Jesus Christ contin- 
ued to prosper and save the souls of men, even when 
false religions and erroneous churches sprang up 
around her, each pretending to be the true Church 
of Christ. And here observe that the Eoman Catho- 
lic Church was the first Church, and the only one, 
established by Jesus Christ ; consequently her religion 
was and is no other than the one she received from 
Him, and which gave her existence. She had already 
formed and sent to heaven millions of saints and 
martyrs before any one of the hundreds of sects 
which now pretend to be the true Church of Christ 
(in this or any other country) was even dreamt of. 
She formed and peopled heaven with real saints when 
these sects were working against her with all the 
power that the malice of demons could suggest or the 
power of man exercise ; and she is doing so still, even 
after hundreds of sects which have arisen under simi- 
lar pleas and pretexts have vanished for ever, not only 
from existence, but even from the memory of man. 

again, God cannot lie, so neither can the Church.) On the following page 
he says farther : " Das ist nn alles dahin geredet, dassdie Kirchemuss allein 
Gottes Wort lehren, nnd das gewiss seyn, dardurch sie der Grand, und 
Pfeyler der Wahrheit, nnd auff den Felsen gebauet, heilig und unstrafnich 
heisst ; das ist wie man recht und wohl sagt, die Kirche kann nicht irren, 
dan Gottes Wort, welches sie lehret, kann nicht irren.'" (All this is said for 
this end, viz., that the Church must teach the word of God alone : and this 
must be sure, because she is the pillar and the ground of truth, and built 
upon a rock ; is called holy and without blemish — that is, as it is well and 
appropriately said, the Church cannot err, for the word of God which she 
teaches cannot err.) 



76 



The Good Seed and the Cockle. 



Nor will it do to say (and this is the main excuse 
by which the sects endeavor to justify their separa- 
tion from the Catholic Mother Church), that it was 
the pope and the Catholic priesthood who, in the so- 
called dark ages, corrupted the Church and falsified 
her teachings. If that were so, how could the ser- 
vants of the "goodman of the house" (and by these, 
evidently, are understood the pastors of the Church, 
who helped to plant the good seed) come to their Lord 
and Master, and say, " Sir, didst Thou not sow good 
seed in Thy field ? Whence, then, hath it cockle ?" 
Would it not be the highest insolence, and would not 
such a question bring forth from the lips of their omni- 
scient Lord an answer like this: "It is your own 
work ; you yourselves, wicked and unfaithful servants, 
have done this evil ; instead of sowing wheat, you 
have sown cockle, and all the harm that is done to My 
field is done by you "? But no ! " He said, An enemy 
hath done this." The Divine Lord of the field knew 
very well who was the author of such a misfortune. 
And truly this diversity of creeds is a real, a fatal mis- 
fortune for numerous immortal souls. Although 
designing persons wish to pass it off as a sign of 
American progress, it is not a friendly tongue, de- 
voted to the cause of God and the salvation of man- 
kind, that speaks' in such a manner, but an enemy to 
both ; or, as the Latin text has it, "A man that is 
an enemy hath done this." For what the spirit of 
wickedness is not able to accomplish himself he will 
do by means of proud and self- conceited men, whose 
passions he excites to stand up even "against the 
Lord and His anointed."" It is a remarkable fact 
that almost all founders of new sects were more or 

* Ps. ii. 2. 



Tlie Good Seed and the Cockle. 



77 



less connected with the office of teachers, professors 
of universities, schools, etc. Nor is it a thing to be 
wondered at that this class of persons, unless well 
founded in humility, are particularly inclined to fall 
into error. From the constant habit of dictating 
their views to their pupils, and receiving the in- 
cense of their homage as oracles of learning and wis- 
dom, they become more and more unwilling to be 
contradicted in any point they choose to advance, or 
to submit their opinion to any other judgment than 
their own, until at length they believe themselves 
infallible, and, like Lucifer, set themselves against 
Almighty God and His Holy Spirit, who teaches 
and guides the Church of Jesus Christ.* And thus, 

* In the year 1519 Luther wrote in his instructions concerning some arti- 
cles which were imputed to him by his adversaries (torn., Jen., fol. 166b) : 
"Dass die Komische Kirche fur alien andern geehret seye, ist kein Zweiffel, 
dan selbst St. Peter und Paul, 46 Papst, und viel hundert tausend Martyrer, 
ihr Blut vergossen, die Holl, und Welt uberwunden, dass man wohl greiffen 
mag. wie gar einen besondern Augenblick Gott aufE diese Kirche habe." 
(That the Roman Church is honored before all others there can be no 
doubt, for even Sts. Peter and Paul, forty-six popes, and many hundred 
thousands of martyrs have shed their blood for it and conquered hell and 
the world, so that men n*ight«*vell understand what a particular regard God 
has for this Church.) 

Again, in the year 1528— that is, eleven years after the commencement of his 
Reformation— he wrote the following to two parsons (torn, iv., Jen., fol. 320a): 
" Wir bekennen, dass unter dem Pabstumb viel Christlichen Gutes ja alles 
christliche Gut seye, und auch daselbst herkommen seye an uns; nehmlich wir 
bekennen, dass im Pabstumb die rechte heilige Schrift seye, reenter Tauff, 
rechtes Sacrament des Altars, rechte Schliissel zur Vergebung der Siinden, 
recht Predigt-Ambt, rechter Catechismus, als ; zehn geboti (die Artickel des 
Glaubens, das Vater unser . . .). Ich sage, dass unter dem Pabst die rechte 
Christenheit ist, ja der rechte Ausbund der Christenheit, und viel frommer 
grosser Heiligen. ... 1st dann nu unter dem Pabst die Christenheit, so 
muss sie wahrlich Christus Leib und Glied seyn ; ist sie sein Leib, so hat sie 
rechten Geist, Evangelium, Glauben, Tauff, Sacrament, Schliissel, Predigt- 
Ambt, Gebett, heilige Schriffi und alles, was die Christenheit habeu soil." 
(" We confess that under the Papacy there is much of the Christian good- 
yes, all Christian good— which has also come to us from it: namely, we 
confess that in the Papacy is the genuine holy Scripture, genuine Baptism, 
genuine Sacrament of the altar, genuine keys for forgiveness of sins, the 



78 



The Good Seed and the Cockle. 



"professing themselves to be wise, they became 



THE GOOD SEED AND THE COCKLE — CONTINUED. 

ff A ISTD the servants said to Him : Wilt Thou that 



we go and gather it up?" The spirit of 
the present age (which, after all, we are not bound 
to believe to be exactly the best, as far as the inte- 
rests of our immortal souls are concerned, for our 
Saviour calls the wicked spirit 6 ' the prince of this 
world") believes religious error (the cockle) to be as 
much entitled to a right of existence as truth (the 
good seed), and is even inclined, in many instances, to 
favor the former rather than the latter ; but the ser- 
vants of the "goodman of the house" of olden times 
thought differently. They firmly believed that the 
cockle had no right to exist ; they even wished to root 
it up entirely, but the Master oi the field did not ap- 
prove of their doing so. Why ? It is not, surely, 

genuine office of preaching, the genuine Catechisms, the Ten Command- 
ments, the articles of faith, the Our Father. ... I say that under the 
Pope is the genuine Christianity, yes, the true ocean of Christianity and 
many pious great saints. ,, ) When, in the year 1538 — i.e., twenty-one years 
after his Reformation — Luther preached on the sixteenth chapter of St. 
John's Gospel, he acknowledged again : <l Wahr ist : im Pabstumb ist 
Gottes Wort, Apostel-Ambt, und wir die heilige Schrif t, Tauff, Sacramen- 
ten und Predigt-Stuhl von ihnen genommen haben, was wusten wir sonst 
davon ? daruni muss auch der Glaub, Christliche Kirchen und der heilige 
Geist bey ihnen 'seym'' 1 (" True it is that in the Papacy is the word of God, 
apostolic office, and that we have taken from them the holy Scriptures, 
Baptism, Sacraments, and pulpit ; otherwise, what would we know about 
them ? Therefore, also, must faith, Christian Church, and the Holy Spirit 
be with them.") 
* Rom. i. 22. 



fools."* 



CHAPTEE II. 




The Good Seed and the Cockle. 



that He grants the same right to the cockle as to the 
wheat, or desires that His workmen should show 
themselves indifferent with regard to both. Tbe min- 
isters of the Church are bound to exert their utmost 
vigilance to prevent the spreading of the cockle — 
that is, of pernicious doctrines. Still, Christ permits 
that there should be heresies, because these, in spite 
of themselves, contribute to the greater glory of His 
Church, and because the immediate destruction of 
those who profess heresy would entail the loss of 
many souls, since many who at present are cockle 
will afterwards, by His mercy, be converted into 
wheat. Hence the owner of the field says: "Mo, 
lest perhaps gathering up the cockle you root up the 
wheat also together with it/ 5 

"Suffer both to grow until the harvest." This is 
not the time to separate them, but the time will 
come at the end of the world. In the meantime 
suffer both to groiv until the harvest — that is, the 
great day of General Judgment ; then that final and 
most awful separation shall be made.* 

* Kemark here that the wheat is*to grow from the time it was planted 
until the end of the world, always visible, thriving, and bringing forth fruit— 
a true figure of the perpetuity of the Catholic Church. How fully Luther 
was convinced of this perpetuity and authority of the Roman Church up to 
the year 1532 is manifest from a letter written by him to some unruly spirits 
(Rotten-Geister) who had denied the real presence of Jesus Christ in the 
blessed Eucharist (torn, v., Jen., fol. 490a) : "Zudem so ist dieser Artikel 
nicht ein Lehr, oder ausser der Schrift von Menschen erdichtet, sondern 
klarlich im Evangelio durch helle und ungezweifelte Wort Christi gestif tet, 
und gegriindet, und von Anfang der Christlichen Kirchen, bis auff diese 
Stund eintrachtiglich geglaubt, und gehalten, wie das aus weisen der lieben 
Vatter Biicher, und Schriften, beider Griechischer und Lateinischer 
Sprach ; dazu der taglich Brauch, und das Werk mit der Erfahrung bis auff 
diese Stund. , Welches Zeugnisz der gantzen heiligen Christlichen Kirchen, 
wan wir schon nichts mehr hatten, soil uns allein genugsam seyn bei diesem 
Artikel zu bleiben, und daraber keinen Rotten-Geist zu horen, noch zu 
leyden. Dan es fehrlich ist, etwas zu horen, oder zu glauben, wider das 
eintrechtig Zeugnisz, Glauben und Lehr der gantzen heiligen Christlichen 



80 



The Good Seed and the Cockle. 



''And in the time of the harvest I will say to the 
reapers : Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into 
bundles to burn ; but the wheat gather ye into My 
barn.' 5 Our Saviour says: "The harvest is the end 
of the world, and the reapers are the angels." They 
are first to gather up the cockle and bind it into 

Kirchen, so yon Anfang her nu iiber fiinifzehn hundert Yahr in aller Welt 
eintrechtiglich gehalten hat. Wans ein neuer Artikel ware, und nicht von 
Anfang der heiligen Christlichen Kirchen ; oder ware nicht bey alien 
Kirchen, noch bei der gantzen Christenheit in aller Welt so eintrachtiglich 
gehalten, ware es nicht so fehrlich, noch schrecklich daran zu zweifflen, oder 
disputiren, ob es recht seye. Nu es aber von Anfang her, und so weit die 
gantze Christenheit ist, eintrachtiglich gehalten ist ; wer nu daran zweiffelt, 
der thut eben so viel, als glaubt er keine Christliche Kirche, und verdammt 
damit nicht allein die gantze heilige Christliche Kirche als eine verdammte 
Ketzerin, sondern auch Christum selbst mit alien Aposteln, und Propheten, 
die diesen Artikel, da wir sprechen : ' Ich glaube eine heilige Christliche 
Kirche, 1 gegriindet haben und gewaltig bezeugt. Nehmlich, Christus 
Matth. xxviii., siehe ich bin bey euch bis an der Welt Ende. Und St. 
Paulus, 2 Tim. iii., die Kirche Gottes ist ein Saul und Grundveste der 
Wahrheit." (Besides, this article is not a mere teaching invented by men 
or without Scripture, but clearly founded and established in the Gospel by 
the plain and undoubted words of Christ, and from the beginning of the 
Christian Church unanimously believed and held, as is demonstrated by the 
dear Fathers 1 books and writings of both the Greek and Latin tongues, to 
which is added the daily usage and practice, with the experience, up to the 
present hour ; which testimony of the whole Christian Church, even if we 
had nothing more, should alone be sufficient to induce us to abide by this 
article, and to hear no complotting spirit on this subject, nor tolerate any. 
For it is a dangerous thing to hear or believe anything which is against the 
uniform testimony, faith, and teaching of the whole Christian Church, 
which has unanimously held it all over the world, from the very beginning, 
now over fifteen hundred years. If it were a new article, and not from the 
beginning of the holy Christian Church, or if it was not so uniformly held 
by all churches nor by all Christians throughout the world, it would not be 
so dangerous nor terrible to doubt about it, or to dispute whether it was 
true. But now as it has been unanimously held from the beginning and as 
far as Christendom extends, whosoever doubts about it now does as much 
as if he believed in no holy Christian Church, and condemns not only the 
whole Christian Church as a damned heretic, but Christ Himself with all 
His Apostles and prophets, who have founded the article in which we say, I 
believe in a holy Christian Church ; which is mightily testified by Christ 
Himself [St. Matt, xxviii.] : "Behold, I am with you all days, even to the 
end of the world"; and again [St. Paul, 2 Tim. iii.] : "The Church of God 
is the pillar and the ground of truth.") 



The Good Seed and the Cockle. 



81 



bundles ; for as all those out of the Church, though 
divided into many sects, still unite and are linked to- 
gether in opposing and making war against the king- 
dom of Christ and His Vicar on earth, so shall these 
heresiarchs, with those of their followers who blindly 
adhered to their error, in spite of the doubts and 
reproaches of conscience which the grace of God had 
at times awakened within them, be tied together by 
the same ties, and form an extra bundle of cockle 
to hum. For these men — setting up altar against 
altar, laws against laws, aiding and encouraging 
those unfortunate souls who, blinded by unlawful 
passions, have forsaken the path of truth which 
leads to life, and revolted against those whose duty 
it was to govern and direct them under God, and, 
when necessary, to admonish them of what was 
blameworthy in their conduct and likely to prove 
dangerous to themselves and others — notwithstand- 
ing the charity exercised towards them, have fallen 
away and led others in their path, to the eternal loss • 
of millions of precious souls. Bad Catholics also 
who, though professing the true faith, have neglect- 
ed to comply with its obligations and abused its sac- 
raments, the Scripture designates as chaff, which is 
in like manner to hum in unquenchahle fire ; * and 
as chaff is a more combustible material than cockle, 
so we may infer what grievous punishments await all 
such persons if they are not truly penitent before 
death cuts them off. 

I know that those out of the Church are apt to 
condemn her, and consider her severe and unchari- 
table, because she maintains that out of her pale 
there is no salvation. But let these good people re- 

* St. Matt. iii. 12. 



82 



The Good Seed and the Cockle. 



fleet awhile, and they will see plainly that it, as well 
as the rest of her dogmas, is the teaching of Christ 
and His Apostles. She cannot change the divine 
words of Him who is Truth itself. ( ' Go ye into the 
whole world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. 
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but 
he that believeth not shall be condemned." * Now, 
what use w r ould it be to- preach the Gospel to every 
creature, if every creature w T as not bound to believe 
it ; and if he that believeth not, and is not bap- 
tized, shall be saved just as well as he who believes 
and is baptized in the true Church of Jesus Christ ? 
It is true, there are different degrees of punishment 
in the next life, according to the different degrees of 
guilt, for such as die out of the Church. 

Now, to say that criminal — that is, wilful — unbelief 
and misbelief shall have the same reward as true 
belief, and suffer no punishment Avhatever, is in 
direct opposition to common sense as well as to the 
words of Christ : " He that believeth not shall be 
condemned." To refuse Jesus Christ the obedience 
of our understanding is as great a sin as to refuse 
Him the obedience of our wall ; for he that will not 
believe what Jesus Christ teaches places his own will 
and judgment above that of Christ and gives Him 
the lie, in the same manner as he who breaks the 
commandments prefers his own will to the will of 
God, which latter he despises and treads under foot. 

Hence let every man w r ho values his own future 
and eternal happiness examine carefully w T hether he 
be the good grain, the chaff, or the cockle ; bearing 
in mind at the same time what the Sovereign Judge 
and Master of the field shall say to His reapers on 

* St. Mark xvi. 15, 16. 



The Good Seed and the Cockle. 



83 



the day of the great harvest : "Gather up first the 
cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn ; but the 
wheat gather ye into My barns. " 

Eemember that neither cockle — no matter how 
much it may resemble the wheat — nor chaff, which is 
a part of the good seed, shall be gathered into the 
barn of the Lord, but the pure wheat alone — that is, 
the faithful members of the true Church of Christ on 
earth, who have arrived at the goal either by the 
way of holy baptismal innocence, or, " having washed 
their garments in the blood of the Lamb," by the way 
of holy penance. 

Here again let us compare this parable with the 
teachings of the sects ; how many particulars must 
be changed in order to make it agree with their 
assertions ! If the goodman and his servants planted 
the good seed, it was not an enemy or a different per- 
son who sowed the cockle among the wheat, but 
the servants themselves ; moreover, when the blade 
sprang up and brought forth fruit there appeared 
also the cockle, which choked the good seed, so that 
for the space of a thousand years the field was 
covered with the cockle of popery, until at the end 
of the dark ages ("when men were asleep") there 
came Doctor Martin Luther, John Calvin, John 
Knox, and all the other enlightened Reformers, and 
each one oversowed amongst the cockle his own par- 
ticular kind of wheat, which also sprang up and 
brought forth fruit according to its kind ; so that 
now, in our age of science and wisdom, the question 
as to what is wheat or what is cockle is altogether 
abandoned. Hence the general belief amongst the 
sects that on the day of the great harvest the reapers 
will not enquire of what denomination you are — Are 



84 



The Good Seed and the Cockle. 



you wheat or cockle ? — but will gather into the 
heavenly barn every sort of grain or weed that grew 
in the field and believed itself to be wheat. Such 
must necessarily be the sectarian version of this 
parable, if they are not deceived or do not deceive. 
Whereas the Catholic has nothing to change ; every 
word of the parable is clearly verified in his Church 
and her teaching, as it was, as it now is, and will be 
to the end of ages. 



SECTION III, 



THE GRAIN OF MUSTARD-SEED. 



1 'Another parable he proposed unto them, saying: The 
kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard- seed, which a 
man took and sowed in his field. Which is the least indeed of 
all seeds : but when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs, 
and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come, and 
dwell in the branches thereof/' — St. Matt. xiii. 31, 32. 



CHAPTER I. 

DIVIDE OKIGIN, DEVELOPMENT, AND CATHOLICITY 
OE THE CHUKCH.' 

HAVING closely examined the first picture of the 
Church which our Lord has drawn and placed 
before us for our instruction in the parable of the 
good seed, every one that hath eyes to see and ears to 
hear must understand from it that the good seed so 
uniform throughout the field could be no other than 
the holy Catholic Church, which was first planted by 
Jesus Christ, the goodman, Himself, who preserves 
and governs it to the end of time. So, also, the 
cockle, so manifold in its kind, plainly represents the 
mass of errors that have divided all those who sepa- 
rated themselves from the Catholic Church into many 

85 



86 



The Grain of Mustard- Seed. 



hundreds of sects, all naturally hostile to the good 
seed. 

We are now about to take up another picture of 
the Church which the master-hand of the dear Sa- 
viour has also executed, and, after making the same 
comparison, we shall find, as before, the Catholic 
Church. Before doing so, however, I wish to remind 
my readers that I desire to see acknowledged the 
claims which the Catholic Church alone possesses of 
being the true Church of Jesus Christ — not as a 
mere favor, but from conviction, produced by a sin- 
cere and impartial examination of her faith and doc- 
trine ; not for our advantage or that of the Church, 
but for the sake of the souls concerned, that, after 
all, will be the real gainers or losers in the end, and 
whose salvation we most earnestly desire. Since God 
commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves,, there- 
fore we cannot remain unmoved at the sight of so 
many immortal souls in danger of perishing eternally, 
without at least giving a friendly warning, which, if 
accepted, will lead them securely to the happy man- 
sions of the blessed. It is certainly as important for 
every non- Catholic to know and embrace the true 
Church as it is for every Catholic to live according 
to her teaching and persevere in her communion. 

But let us return to our parable, which opens with 
these words : " The kingdom of heaven is like to a 
grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed 
in his field." The man who is here represented as 
the owner of the field can be no other than our Lord 
Jesus Christ Himself; otherwise what relation could 
this parable have to the kingdom of heaven? It was 
this God made man who alone had the right and the 
power to establish a religion equally binding upon all 



The Grain of Mustard- Seed. 



87 



mankind, and forming the law by which. Ho governs 
His Church on earth — the militant kingdom of hea- 
ven — which resembled the mustard-seed by its obscure 
and lowly beginning. For who could be less, in the 
eyes of worldly wisdom, than its Divine Founder and 
His twelve associates ; He the son of a carpenter, as 
they said, not possessing even the necessaries of life, 
and they poor, unlettered fishermen ? ^Nevertheless 
this mustard-seed took root and flourished, so that its 
branches reach to the very heavens. For this king- 
dom represented by the mustard-seed comprises 
three divisions, all attached to the same tree and 
holding intimate relations to each other. The first 
and most beautiful of these divisions constitutes all 
those who, having conquered their corrupt 'nature by 
a holy violence and overcome the seductions of the 
world, the flesh, and the devil, have already closed 
their earthly combat, and, called to the presence of 
their King, are crowned by Him as His faithful war- 
riors, and, consequently, are termed the Church tri- 
umphant. The second are those who, though faith- 
ful, were not wholly free from blemish at the time of 
their departure from this life, but nevertheless will 
be saved, "yet so as by fire/'* These constitute* the 
Church suffering. The third portion of this great 
mustard-tree is that of the members of the true 
Church on earth, styled the Church militant ; and 
these three parts of Christ's kingdom communicate 
with each other. 

As for those who lived in opposition to the laws of 
God and His Church, and died without repentance, 
they are no longer members of the Church, but dead 
branches, cut off and cast into the "pool of fire, to 

* 1 Cor. iii. 15. 



88 



The Grain of Mustard- Seed. 



be tormented, day and night, for ever and ever."* 
What a vast difference between the grain of "mustard- 
seed" and this full-grown tree ! And yet there is no- 
thing in the tree that had not its germ in the seed. 
The tree that rises so majestically above all the sur- 
rounding plants , and herbs is the identical tree that 
was contained in the seed, no matter how small it 
may have been. And here is an answer for those 
persons who, wishing to justify their separation from 
the true Church, maintain that the present Catholic 
Church, although founded by Jesus Christ and His 
Apostles as the little mustard-seed, is no longer the 
same Church that it w r as in the days of the Apostles ; 
that many powers have been usurped and exercised 
by the pope and his clergy which were never exercised 
in the primitive Church ; that almost every century 
brings new innovations in matters of tvorship and 
discipline which are not mentioned in holy Scripture, 
and were not know r n among the first Christians. 

That Christ granted special powers to His Apostles 
and their successors no man can deny who pretends 
to believe in the Bible. " All power is given to Me 
in heaven and in earth ; go ye therefore," etc. "As 
the 'Father hath sent Me, I also send you," for the 
same end, with the same powers. " To thee I will 
give the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; whatsoever 
thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in 
heaven," etc. f "Feed My lambs, feed My sheep." 
What these powers were, and the manner of exer- 
cising them, were certainly best known to those who 
received them, and were transmitted by them to 
their successors as "holy things not to be given 

* Apoc. xx. 10, 15. 

t St. Matt, xviii. 18 ; St. John xx. 21 ; St. Matt. xvi. 19. 



The Grain of Mustard- Seed. 



89 



to dogs, and as precious pearls not to be cast be- 
fore swine." * 

Suppose even that we were to grant — which by 
no means we could — that we have no evidence that 
these powers were ever exercised by the Apostles, 
this would prove nothing against the fact of their 
being granted by our Divine Lord to them and their 
successors ; besides, no proof can be alleged to show 
that they were not enforced by the Apostles, as not 
all their actions have been recorded, but only a 
few of them. On the contrary, we have incontest- 
able historical proof that these powers were exercised 
by the immediate successors of the Apostles, as well 
as by all those who came afterwards. 

The true history of the Church beautifully illus- 
trates the growth and development of the mustard- 
seed, and the exercise of those powers granted by 
Christ to the head of the Church and his subordi- 
nate aids, the bishops and priests, whenever an occa- 
sion required them. These powers, being given in 
general terms and to an unlimited extent, reaching 
as far as good and truth reaches, were also to be used 
with discretion, according to times and circumstan- 
ces. Those charged with their administration were 
to be like St. Peter, "faithful and wise stewards 
whom the Lord hath set over His family, to give 
them their measure of wheat " \ not at random nor 
at all times, in the same measure and indiscriminate- 
ly, but " in due season" The sins of some were to be 
forgiven, those of others retained, etc. ; at one time 
they should bind, at another loose. And so, as the 
Church grew and extended under more or less 
favorable circumstances not depending on her or 

* St. Matt. vii. 6. t St. Luke xii. 42. 



90 * Hie Grain of Mustard- Seed. 



controlled by her laws, and according to wants and 
emergencies, these powers were used and made mani- 
fest to the world. She is, therefore, the Church of 
all ages, and bears the marks of every century of her 
life. 

" Out of the root of Jesse" which is the immacu- 
late virgin Mother of God, "there came forth a 
rod" * Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. This 
rod became the trunk of a tree through St. Peter 
and his successors, as vicars of Christ on earth* 
The nations converted to Christianity by the preach- 
ing of the Gospel form the branches, that bring 
forth leaves, flowers, and fruit as long as they remain 
united to the trunk, from which they derive nourish- 
ment, fecundity, and life. If some branches, exposed 
to a noxious air or perforated by the gnawing worm 
of predominant passion, have in coarse of time de- 
cayed, dried up, withered, and fallen off, or were cut 
off, these injured and destroyed themselves, but did 
not in any way hurt the main tree, which, in such 
cases, sprouted anew r and brought forth young and 
vigorous branches instead, with fresh leaves* and 
fruits, but never for an instant lost its innate vital- 
ity. To say that a tree a hundred years old is not the 
identical tree or plant which was first sown, and which 
produced this ancient tree, would be ridiculous, 
since it would imply that the seed never sprang up, 
and so the tree could have no origin. 

If Jesus Christ never gave His Church any legis- 
lative power, and she exercised such power in suc- 
ceeding ages, her identity might well be impugned 
nowadays ; but if this power was given her at the 
very time of her foundation by Christ Himself, and 

* Isaias xi. 1. 



Tlie Grain of Mustard- Seed. 



91 



she makes use of such power after hundreds of 
years, because she had no need or opportunity of 
doing so before, no one can on this account deny her 
identity, or say she is not the same church or has no 
such power. 

The little mustard-seed " when it is grown up is 
greater than all herbs, and becometh a tree." Now, 
if the tree is the Church of Jesus Christ the herbs are 
her rivals, the sects — with this difference : that the 
tree was planted by the man in his field, whereas the 
herbs were planted by others or were the spontaneous 
productions of the soil. Therefore the tree is of 
heavenly origin, but the herbs earthly ; and no matter 
how much these herbs may pretend to be the true 
Church, they bear too plainly the marks of falsehood : 
they are too small. For the marks of the true 
Church of Jesus Christ are not only unity, sanctity, 
apostolicity, but also universality, or catholicity. We 
have it from the lips of our Divine Lord Himself in 
this parable, where He shows us that His Church, 
once planted, shall flourish and exceed in numbers 
and magnitude all the rivals that surround her, and 
continue doing so till the end of time. Xo matter 
what heresies and schisms arose during almost nine- 
teen hundred years of her existence, no matter how 
many thousands or millions of souls were torn from 
her maternal embrace, still the number of her faithful 
and devoted children far exceeded the measure of 
those "who revolted and remained no more in the 
doctrine of Christ " * as taught by her. And if we 
sum up together all denominations of Christians not 
Catholic, they do not amount to one-half the number 
of those who still hold and profess the Catholic faith. 

* 2 Ep. St. John y. 9. 



92 



The Grain of Mustard-Seed. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE NUMEROUS DIVISIONS AKD CHANGES IK THE 
SECTS AEE A SUFFICIENT PBOOF OF THEIR FALSITY. 

IT is, I would say ridiculous, if it were not a de- 
plorable evil, to hear every sect asserting that 
they themselves are the true Church of Jesus Christ, 
and the mother Church of Rome only a sect. You 
could say with as much truth that a branch cut 
from a tree and stuck in the earth was the original 
tree, and the tree itself only a rotten branch, as to 
say that the Catholic Church is not the only true 
and genuine Church of the living God. Oh ! would 
to God our separated brethren would bear in mind 
this beautiful parable, and meditate seriously on the 
truths which it contains, that, being enlightened by 
heavenly wisdom, they might attain the gift of divine 
faith, without which it is impossible to please God. 

What our Saviour said of the vine and its branches 
is also applicable here. The branch bears fruit if it 
remain attached to the vine ; but, severed from the 
vine, it shall be cast forth as useless and shall wither, 
and they "shall gather it up and cast it into the 
fire/'* "Every plant which My heavenly Father 
hath not planted shall be rooted up/ 5 Such shall be 
the fate of all herbs, the rivals of the mustard-tree. 

I have taken the trouble to count up the number 
of sects that arose from the time of the Apostles to 
the time when Protestantism was started by Martin 
Luther (many of which are not recorded in history), 
and I found, on an average, a new sect for every third 
year ; but who can count how many have arisen since 

* St. John xv. 1, 6. 



Tlie Grain of Mustard-Seed. 93 



the time of Luther, even among Protestants them- 
selves ? Each of these started under the pretext of 
reformation, and each one claims to be the true 
Church of Christ and to believe in pure Gospel doc- 
trine ; whereas, in fact, they protest against the 
Church of the Gospel, and believe their own opinion 
about the Gospel, and that of the founders of their 
sects, in preference to the teachings of Jesus Christ 
Himself, who commanded all to "hear the Church" 
(meaning thereby His own Church), if they did not 
wish to be considered as "heathens and publicans/'* 
Yet they prefer to hear any one but those to whom 
Christ said : "He that heareth you, heareth Me; and 
he that despiseth you, despiseth Me."f Our Lord 
permitted sects to arise, not because He considered 
them equal to the tree which came from the mustard- 
seed, for He has not planted them, and therefore 
they shall be rooted up when they have served His 
purpose ; He merely allows them in order that the 
tree which He Himself has planted may stand forth 
more clearly. For, as St. Paul says: "There must 
be also heresies, that they also who are approved may 
be made manifest among you." \ Those who serve 
the Lord sincerely and believe from their hearts 
stand firm in the faith originally "handed doivn to 
the saints." § Those who have no firm faith, having 
lost it by not performing the works it enjoins — for, 
as the Apostle tells us, "faith without good works is 
dead" — such persons fall away from the sound tree 
and go to the sects. 

And as the mustard -tree always brings forth exactly 
the same fruit, so the Catholic faith, the true religion 
of Jesus Christ, will always bring forth Catholics of 

* St. Matt. xiii. 17. t St. Luke x. 16. $ 1 Cor. xi. 19. § Jud. 3. 



94 



TJie Grain of Mustard- Seed. 



exactly the same faith as their ancestors. This can- 
not be said of the sects. If Martin Luther were now 
to come back to this world in person, how many 
would he find, even among his own Lutherans, who 
believe at the present day all that he taught them ? 
Would he find among millions, each of whom is 
allowed the right of private judgment, and therefore 
his own opinion about the word of God — would he 
find, I ask, tAvo persons who truly and sincerely think 
alike in matters of religion ? Luther's remains were 
not yet mouldered into dust when the immortal Bos- 
suet wrote his work on the Variations of Protestant- 
ism* the very title of which would be a suitable 
epitaph on the tombstone of every Protestant sect. 
A religion whose variations in one century alone fill 
up three large volumes certainly cannot be the reli- 
gion of an unchangeable God. And who will write 
for us the history of its variations from that time to 
.the present day ? How many volumes would such a 
history require ? 

Besides all this Catholics find in this parable 
another very beautiful and consoling dogma of their 
Church — namely, the Communion of Saints: not 
merely the communion of saints on earth with each 
f other, but also that of the saints and angels in 
heaven with their brethren on earth. For it is said 
that this mustard-seed became a tree, and that the 
birds of the air came and dwelt in the branches 
thereof. Now let those who believe in no communion 
of saints but that which is found on earth spend 
their time in discussing what is meant by these birds 

* A distinguished Protestant writer said of this work : " Catholics should 
read it to know their own religion, and Protestants should read it in order 
to learn logic." 



Hie Grain of Mustard- Seed, 



95 



of the air ; they will probably find it difficult to 
draw any conclusion. But we Catholics are at no loss 
to find a meaning which satisfies and consoles us, 
Our faith teaches that death only breaks the ties 
of nature, but cannot sever the supernatural ties of 
divine faith, hope, and charity, with which, as mem- 
bers of the same body, the Church, we are linked 
together, and that our friends who departed this life 
in a state of grace continue to love us as faithfully 
and ardently — yes, even more so than before death, 
since they are more enlightened and have no pas- 
sion or impediment to cool their love for us ; for true 
charity is love in the highest sense of the word, and 
we read in holy Scripture that " God is love." If, in 
their charity, they loved to do us good on earth, and 
took care of our spiritual or temporal well-being, or 
of both, death will not hinder their good offices in 
our regard, but rather perfect that which before was 
imperfect.* And why should the saints (by saints 

* That Luther believed in the communion of saints according to the Catho- 
lic sense of the word is evident from the following passage of his writings 
(torn. L, Jen., fol. 182): "So aber Gott auff dich siehet, so sehen ihmnachalle 
'Engel, alle Heilige, alle Creaturen ; und so du im Glauben bleibst, halten sie 
alle die Hand' unter, und gehet deine Seel aus, so sind sie da, und empfahcn 
sie ; du magst nicht untergehen." (If, then, God beholds you. so also do the 
angels and saints behold you ; and if you persevere in the faith they support 
you, and when your soul departs they are present to receive it that you may 
not perish.) On fol. 183 he writes: "Er befiehlt semen Engelen, alien 
Heiligen, alien Creaturen, dass sie mit ihm auf dich sehen, deine Seel wahr- 
nehmen, und sie ernpfahenr' (He commands His angels and saints, and all 
creatures, to watch over you with Himself, to watch your soul and receive 
it.) We also read at folio 165 : " Yon der lieben Heiligen Fiirbitt sage ich, 
und halte Fest mit der ganzen Christenheit, dass man die liebe Heilige 
ehren, und anruffen soil : dan wer mag doch das widersprechen, dass noch 
heutiges Tages sichtiglich bey der lieben Heiligen Corper und Graber Gott 
durch seiner Heiligen Nahmen Wunder thut ? 11 (I say and hold steadfastly 
in common with all Christians that the dear saints are to be honored and 
invoked. For we cannot contradict that even at the present day God 
works evident miracles through the invocation of His saints, and at the 
tombs which contain their bodies.) Speaking of the manner of administer- 



96 The Grain of Mustard- Seed* 



we mean all who die in a state of sanctifying grace) 
be cut off from all those whom they loved on earth ? 
Why should they be deprived of all power to do 
them good, since he who loves God most ardently in 
this life has also the greatest love for his neighbor ? 
The love of the greatest saint for Almighty God 
during this life does not equal that of the least 
saint in heavenly glory ; consequently the love of 
their neighbor must be immeasurably greater. On 
the other hand, what an idea of heaven Protestant- 
ism gives its followers ! How cold and cheerless to 
think that the icy breath of heresy separates the 
living from the dead ! Xo wonder that the poor 
negro who was urged by a Protestant preacher to 
go to heaven replied, after a moment's reflection : 
"Sir, I don't care much about going there, if I am 
to be stuck in a cloud to halloo out ' Alleluia ! ? for 
all eternity : I can see no fun in that." This poor 
man was not much mistaken, if the souls going 
there are shut up, if they are deprived of all 
power to aid their friends and benefactors, and 
obliged to forget all whom they loved on earth, 
even as Christ •-'loved His own that are in the 
world. 73 In what does such a heaven differ from a 
prison ? We know that the servant who has been 
faithful over few things shall be placed over many ; 
that he who with one pound had gained ten pounds 
was told by the Lord, " Thou shalt have power over 

Ing the Blessed Sacrament, he says (torn. iii. fol. 160a) : "Ists nicht gross 
and unansspreehliche Gnaad dass die hohe Majestat fur mieh tritt, sich 
auch mir zu eigen gibt ; darnach, dass alleHeilige fur mich tretten, nehmen 
sich raeiner an. und sorgen f ur mich, dienen und helffen mir." (Is it not a 
great and ineffable grace that I can stand before the sublime Majesty of God 
and receive Him as my own ; furthermore, that all the saints surround me, 
take my part, care, serve and help me ? ) 



TJie Grain of Mustard-Seed. 



97 



ten cities/' and the one who had gained five pounds 
was placed by him over five cities. What is the 
meaning of this "having power over cities" ? and 
where are these cities ? Not in heaven, certainly, 
since there is there but one city — the heavenly 
Jerusalem — but on earth there are many cities, 
Christian cities, branches of the great tree which 
the man sowed in his field. ~No wonder that the 
saints and angels are delighted to come and dwell 
in these branches, and defend them from the noxious 
worms that destroy not only the leaf, the flower, and 
the fruit, but even the branches themselves, if not 
protected. It is an additional glory to the saints to 
be employed as the dispensers of God's treasures of 
goodness and mercy, and to have more power of 
doing good than they had in this world. If the 
angels of God know w T hat takes place on earth, and 
see the face of our heavenly Father — for they even 
watch over us, and our Saviour Himself tells us, 
"See that you despise not one of these little ones: 
for I say to you that their angels in heaven always see 
the face of My Father who is in heaven " * — why not 
the saints of God who have departed this life and 
gone where, as the Scripture says, "they shall be 
like the angels of God " ? f Why should these our 
friends in heaven be deprived of all knowledge of 
our concerns on earth, when we have positive proof 
that even the wicked in hell know our state on earth, 
as we see in the example of Dives and Lazarus ? \ 
Dives in hell knew that his brothers whom he left on 
earth were still living, that they were not converted 
but continued their wicked life, and were in clanger 

* St. Matt, xviii. 10. • + Ibid. xxii. 30. % St. Luke xvi. 19. 



98 



The Grain of Mustard- Seed. 



of coming to that place of torment, where they would 
take fearful vengeance on him for the bad example 
and advice he had given them. Now, if this lost 
soul prayed to Abraham for his brothers on earth, 
whom he had both feared and hated, why should not 
the saints be able to do the same for those whom 
they loved on earth and still love better than before ? 
Or shall we suppose that Almighty God, whom they 
behold face to face, thus addresses them : You are 
forbidden to think any more of those who were 
dear to you on earth, your friends, relatives — no, 
not even of your greatest benefactors, nor of those 
for whose benefit you sacrificed your life and all that 
you possessed. You can ask no favor in their 
behalf ; they can ask the prayers of their friends on 
earth, but I forbid them to ask your prayers. You 
have no power to aid them any more. As a reward 
for all your good works on earth, now that you are in 
heaven you are for ever deprived of the power of 
doing good. The noble works of charity which you 
have established and fostered are taken out of your 
hands for ever ; you shall not even know of their 
existence. The tears and supplications of suffering 
humanity, which you were accustomed to assuage by 
all the means in your power, may now fall upon the 
tombstone which marks your grave. You shall not 
heed them, much less lessen them. I have no more 
need of your services in the cause of your fellow- 
creatures ; I do all without you. 

Ah ! my brethren, is that heaven ? Is that the sen- 
tence of the just Judge ? Is this our prospect, even 
if, with the grace of God, we succeed in imitating, 
as far as it is possible here below, His own infinite 
goodness, so that, like St. Paul, we are willing to be- 



TJie Grain of Mustard- Seed. 



99 



come "an anathema"* for our brethren, and when 
to do good to others has become our second nature 
— a want of the soul ? That there is a chaos separat- 
ing the reprobates from the saints we learn from 
the words of Abraham to Dives : " Between us and 
you there is fixed a great chaos : so that they who 
would pass from hence to you cannot, nor from 
thence come hither." f But that such a chaos 
should exist between heaven and earth is the doc- 
trine of Protestantism, which styles itself the pure 
gospel (the good tidings) ! 

We can also draw from this parable another very 
useful and appropriate reflection. As the mustard- 
seed is used for two purposes, as a seasoning and 
as a remedy, so also is the word of God. It is the 
seasoning of all our actions, for all our thoughts, de- 
sires, and actions must be according to the teaching 
of divine faith and the dictates of conscience, in or- 
der to be pleasing in the sight of God; for "the 
just man liveth by faith," and "all that is not of 
faith is sin." Hence the Apostle says: "Whether 
you eat or drink, or whatever else you do, do all for 
the glory of God." And as the mustard, taken with 
other meats, imparts a special savor to the food, and 
helps to give necessary and healthful action to the 
human body, so divine charity, which worketh by 
faith, adds a savor to all the actions of a God-loving 
soul and renders them profitable to salvation. 

Moreover, a grain of mustard, if taken whole, af- 
fords little if any taste to the palate, but the more it 
is masticated the more it develops its virtue ; so 
likewise the mere hearing of the divine truth will 
produce little or no effect in the soul, but the more 

* Romans ix. 3. t St. Luke xvi. 26. 



100 The Grain of Mustard-Seed. 



you meditate and think on it— which is spiritual 
mastication — the more will you taste and experience 
its salutary effects. "With desolation is the land 
made desolate, because there is no one that con- 
sidered in his heart." * 

As a remedy mustard is used to restore the circu- 
lation of blood and impart new life to a limb or some 
other part of the human body where vitality is 
diminished ; in like manner a good sermon, well 
pointed and applied to the sinner, will, like the 
strong mustard, draw tears from his eyes and bring 
the blush of shame to his cheek. Thus will the fire 
of divine charity produce new life and supernatural 
Vitality in that almost dead member of Christ's body, 
the Church. Only take care to apply to yourselves, 
and not to your neighbors, the good sermons and 
instructions which you hear, and you will always ex- 
perience the virtue and efficacy of that divine 
mustard-seed, the Church of Christ— His "'kingdom, 
that shall never be destroyed nor be delivered to 
another people : and itself shall stand for ever." f 



*Jer. xii. 11. 



tDan. ii. 44. 



SECTION" IT. 



THE PARABLE OF TEE LEAVEN. 



" Another parable He spoke to them : The kingdom of hea- 
ven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three 
measures of meal until the whole was leavened."— St. Matt. 
xiii: 33. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE LEAVEN" REPRESENTS THE DOCTRINE AND GRACE 
OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST — THE WOMAN WHO 
IMPARTS THE LEAVEN IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

BEFORE explaining this parable it is necessary 
to direct the reader's attention to another pas- 
sage of the Gospel wherein our Divine Lord, always 
careful for His own, says : " Take heed and beware 
of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." * 
Here our Saviour tells us openly that the leaven 
indicated by Him is "the doctrine of the Pharisees 
and Sadducees/' f rejected and condemned by Him 
as a deceit and imposition. Therefore the leaven 
mentioned in the parable is His own divine doctrine, 
by which He endeavors to convert and save mankind. 

The Pharisees were a sect amongst the Jews who 
professed a stricter observance of the law than the 
rest of the people. Besides the written law and 

* St. Matt. xvi. 6. t Ibid. xvi. 12. 

101 



102 The Parable of the Leaven. 



genuine traditions, never rejected by our Saviour, 
they had other laws and regulations, propagated 
through their sect, which they pretended were trans- 
mitted to them from Moses, and these they regarded 
with the same veneration as holy Scripture ; nay, 
they even attached more importance to them than to 
the law itself (Mark vii. 9). Such traditions were 
condemned by Jesus 'Christ. 

They were also remarkable for their extreme rigor 
in enforcing the observance of the Sabbath, and the 
Gospel records eight different occasions on which our 
Lord performed some work of charity on the Sab- 
bath day purposely to shock their exaggerated no- 
tions, and teach them that this law was not to be 
enforced with such rigor. 

They pretended, likewise, to believe firmly in 
Scripture, and in Scripture alone. Hence they 
would not listen to any living word, not even the 
living " Word of God" made man, though He was 
in their midst and spoke to them. 

The Sadducees were simply unbelieving material- 
ists, who denied the existence of the spirit and be- 
lieved only in the happiness of the flesh. 

From this we learn that the leaven of the Pha- 
risees and Sadducees was misbelief and unbelief ; 
therefore it is against these errors that our Divine 
Lord warned His followers — a warning which con- 
cerned more those who were afterwards to be con- 
verted to the true faith than those who were His 
contemporary disciples ; for these were sufficiently 
guarded against the leaven of the Pharisees and 
Sadducees by the visible presence of the divine Mas- 
ter Himself. But after He ascended into heaven, 
and the Church extended itself, this pernicious 



Tlie Parable of the Leaven. 



103 



leaven would bo more dangerous as the natural evi- 
dence which aided the faith of the first disciples was 
withdrawn, and the whole edifice rested on divine 
faith alone. 

Leaven is a substance, composed of meal or flour 
and water, which has passed into an acid state, and 
is used for making bread, imparting to it its savor 
and causing it to ferment, thus rendering it more 
palatable and fit for digestion. Bread is made from 
flour, flour is made from many grains ground to- 
gether ; and thus it is a figure of the Church, every 
member of which was a rude grain before baptism, 
but, ground by contrition and watered in the holy 
font of Baptism, it was mingled with the rest and 
leavened through and through with the divine lea- 
ven. The leaven mentioned in the parable is, 
therefore, the holy doctrine of Jesus Christ in a]l its 
power and efficacy. 

" The woman" who took the leaven and used it is 
the spouse of Jesus Christ, His holy teaching Church. 
To her the heavenly leaven, the true doctrine of sal- 
vation, was entrusted : "Go ye, therefore, into the 
whole earth, preach the Gospel," etc. Hence if any 
one wishes to obtain the real, true leaven, and not a 
counterfeit prepared and offered by some Pharisee or 
Sadducee, he must apply to that woman, the true 
spouse of Jesus Christ, His Church, and not to any 
misbelieving Pharisee, no matter how sanctimonious 
and rigid an observer of the written law and traditions 
of his sect he may appear ; nor to any unbelieving 
Sadducee, who preaches the emancipation of the flesh 
and lets the spirit perish. There are two sorts of 
leaven in the world — the leaven of Christ and that of 
the Pharisees and Sadducees. We must be leavened 



104 Tlie Parable of the Leaven. 



by the first, if we desire to belong to the kingdom of 
heaven ; but woe to him who is affected by the second ! 
All the 66 woes" which Christ pronounced against the 
Pharisees will fall upon him.* 

In this parable our Lord describes the process by 
which the nations of the earth, whom He came to re- 
deem, were to be converted to His Church, and made 
" one bread, one body " f with Him who is the Living 
Bread. 

The meal represents all mankind, that still retained 
after its fall the three natural faculties of intellect, 
memory, and will, that were to be reformed and made 
to partake of God's divine nature. Meal in its natu- 
ral condition is insipid, and unfit for nourishment 
without some preparation. In like manner man 
after his fall was no longer agreeable to God's taste ; 
the leaven — that is, the divine element of supernatu- 
ral light and grace in His intellect, memory, and will 
— was lost by sin ; he no longer possessed that sweet 
savor of sanctifying grace that made him pleasing to 
God. His children also were outcasts from their 
heavenly country; they were, as St. Paul says, "by 
nature children of wrath." J 

Man in his integrity, before the fall, was wheat, 
"the good seed." After his fall he had to become 
wheat in order to be saved — that is, ground by con- 
trition and watered in holy baptism, where he received 
the divine leaven of grace and the supernatural vir- 
tues of faith, hope, and charity, every succeeding 
grace increasing the vigor and strength of that leaven 
and making the whole mass of meal fit to become 



* St. Matt, xxiii. 14 et seq.; St. Luke xi. 42-44. 
t 1 Cor. x, 17. X Eph. ii. 3, 



r Fhe Parable of the Leaven. 



105 



bread. And what is meant by this bread ? Behold a 
question which none but a Catholic can answer. 

There is a great mystery contained in the words 
wheat, bread, church, and "body of Christ." These 
words are used in holy Scripture sometimes so pro- 
miscuously, one for the other, that it might appear 
they mean one and the same thing. For instance, 
we read in Jeremias (xi. 19) where the prophet 
introduces the enemies of Christ conspiring against 
Him: "Let us put wood upon His bread, and cut 
Him off from the land of the living" — a passage 
which the English Protestant Bible gives quite differ- 
ently, for there we read: "Let us destroy the tree 
with the fruits thereof." 

Now, St. Jerome, who has himself translated the 
ancient Testament from Hebrew into Latin, and had 
no Protestant opinions to controvert, as he lived 
nearly a thousand years before Protestantism w r as 
begun — St. Jerome, who gives the text as it stands in 
the approved Catholic translation, explains it to us 
in this way : by the wood is understood the cross, and 
by His bread is meant the Body of Jesus Christ. 
Therefore the words signify, "Let us nail His body 
to the cross," for the bread which Jesus Christ gave 
is "His flesh for the life of the world" ; hence it is 
that His body can also be called His bread. And as 
the first Protestant Reformers could make nothing of 
this text without acknowledging the Catholic doctrine 
of the Eeal Presence, they thought it best to do away 
with it altogether, and give us a meaning in their 
translation, which was not as old as the goose-quill that 
wrote the sentence. So much for their faithful trans- 
lation of the sacred Scriptures from the original 
Hebrew ! No wonder that Catholics do not want to 



106 The Parable of the Leaven. 

read their Bible, stained and corrupted with the 
leaven of the Pharisees. 

St. Paul also speaks in the same manner: " We 
being many, are one bread, one body, all that partake 
of one bread " ; * and in the preceding verse he says : 
" The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not 
the communion of the blood of the Lord ? and the 
^ bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the 
body of the Lord ? " f Catholics, with the Corinthi- 
ans and all Christian sects that are not Protestants, 
answer: Of course it is. Protestantism alone says : 
No, it is not. In his Epistle to the Colossians he 
calls the Church of Christ the body of Christ: "I 
fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings 
of Christ, in my flesh for His body, which is the 
Church." I 

Hence the great St. Ignatius, martyr and suc- 
cessor of St. Peter in the apostolic chair of Antioch, 
being on his way to Eome to be devoured by wild 
beasts, writes thus to the afflicted children of his 
church: "I am the wheat of Christ. I am to be 
ground by the teeth of lions, that I may become 
the bread of Christ." This sort of language was 
very familiar to the first Christians ; hence only 
Catholics can understand it. 

If the leaven mentioned in the parable be the holy 

* 1 Cor. x. 17. t Ibid. x. 16. 

% Col. i 24.— Note. The Protestant Bible has : " I fill up that which is 
behind of the afflictions of Christ." Wkat is wanting of the sufferings of 
Christ is our own suffering in the Church, for the Apostle says : t; If we 
have suffered with Him, we shall be glorified with Him " ; and we can suffer 
and do penitential works not only for ourselves, but also for gther members 
of the Church. The Protestant Reformers denied the necessity of peniten- 
tial works, hence they translate, " that which is behind." What is wanting 
is not left behind, and what is behind of the " afflictions of Christ " is infi- 
nite and needs no filling up. 



The Parable of the Leaven, 



107 



doctrine of Christ, with all the powers and graces 
which it confers — or, in other words, the divine ele- 
ment wherewith our Saviour wants to regenerate and 
reconstruct our fallen nature, and place us once 
more in the rank of supernatural beings from which 
we fell by sin — then this divine leaven must not re- 
main separated from us or be kept carefully with- 
in the cover of a book ; no, it has to be "hid in 
three measures of meal until the whole is lea- 
vened. " 

If you put leaven into meal you do not expect the 
leaven to change into meal, but the meal itself to be 
leavened and take the taste and quality of the lea- 
ven. Now, a similar process takes place in the con- 
version of nations or individuals to Christianity ; for 
let us return to the time of the Apostles, and see how 
they hid this leaven in the three measures of meal 
How. did they proceed to make converts ? It was not 
by distributing copies of the Bible, and telling them 
to "Go and read, examine for yourselves ; believe in 
the Eedeemer ; and as for His doctrines, take those 
which you understand and as you understand them, 
and never mind the rest/' No ; the Apostles, like 
their Divine Lord and Master, preached by word 
of mouth — preached and made converts, nay, even 
saints — before the first syllable of the New Testa- 
ment was written. They preached what they heard 
from the lips of Jesus Himself ; not different opinions 
of their own about the word of God, nor different 
doctrine like the sectarian preachers and founders 
of heresies, but, as St. John tells us, "That which 
was from tne beginning, which we have heard, which 
we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked 
upon and our hands have handled, we declare unto 



108 



The Parable of the Leaven, 



you, that you also may have fellowship with us."* 
The Apostles announced a positive, objective truth, 
and, after the example of our Divine Lord, required, 
as the first and most essential condition on the part 
of all admitted to their society, a firm and unflinch- 
ing faith in the dogmas they proposed — a plan which 
their successors have continued and will continue to 
the end of time. ♦ 

Who can imagine for a moment that the Apostles, 
who were sent, not to stir up questions and cause 
quarrels and dissensions, but to teach men what they 
had to believe and do in order to be saved — who can 
suppose that they would admit into the membership 
of the Church any one who, believing in Christ, ac- 
cepted some of His doctrines which they preached, 
and obstinately rejected the others because they did 
not suit his notions, or because he did not understand 
them ; or one who said to them : I will believe your 
word, provided you leave me at liberty to understand 
it my own way, and not bind my intellect to believe 
things about which I have formed ideas quite different 
from yours ? 

The Apostles knew as well as we do that the doc- 
trine of Christ was given as a law and guide to 
guard our understanding against opposite errors, to 
set it in undisturbed possession of the truth, and at 
the same time to do homage to the wisdom and truth 
of the Almighty. Hence it is that we are ready at 
any time to sacrifice our very lives, when necessary, 
in testimony of the faith which we profess. Thus it 
is that the Church presents to God her glorious army 
of martyrs in every age, and clime, and people; the 
young, the noble, the learned, the beautiful are 

* 1 St. John i. 1-3. 



The Parable of the Leaven. " 109 

gathered amongst those royal heroes who, like their 
Redeemer, conquered death and hell by dying, bear- 
ing in mind the words of Christ : " He that believeth 
not shall be condemned." * Why ? Because he that 
lelieveth not prefers his own private judgment to the 
judgment of God, and thinks his own private opinion 
more worthy of belief than the truths revealed by 
God ; hence he denies what God asserts, and asserts 
what God denies ; thus, instead of rendering homage 
to God's veracity by an humble submission of his 
judgment, he follows the example of Eve, who be- 
lieved the serpent rather than God, and renders hom- 
age to the veracity of his own fallible judgment at 
the risk of sacrificing the divine truths of religion, 
his only means of salvation. 

The Apostles, then, made converts and hid the 
leaven of divine truth in the meal of men's under- 
standing, not by giving up this truth to the cavils of 
human reasoning and the private judgment of every 
individual, so that every one might form the opinion 
he thought proper, but by the duty of faith, which 
already, by the law of nature, binds every man to 
believe firmly whatever God has said, without even 
power to doubt such truths, much less to contradict 
them. 

CHAPTEE II. 

HOW THE DIVINE LEAVEN OPEKATES ON THE HUMAN 

SOUL. 

THHE leaven of divine truth must first be applied 
to the memory of man, which has to learn 
what God has taught and revealed ; then the intel- 

* St. Mark xvi. 16. 



110 



The Parable of the Leaven. 



lect, being once convinced that those who announce 
these truths are delegates from God, Christ's ambas- 
sadors, hesitates not to believe their word, complying 
with their teaching just as if the Son of God Him- 
self spoke to them in person ; for has He not said : 
"He that heareth you heareth Me, and he that de- 
spiseth you despiseth Me " ? * Hence, to use the 
words of St. Paul, it is only when "created under- 
standing is thus brought into captivity unto the 
obedience of Christ "f that a man is a believer and 
can be admitted to holy baptism, by which he be- 
comes a living member of Christ's body, the Church. 
The divine truth has to affect the erring intellect of 
man ; it has to form it and keep it within its proper 
limits. Whenever this restless power is in danger of 
going astray, the memory, which holds possession of 
truth, will call it back, saying, as it were: "Not 
so, my intellect ; God has said this or that. Thou 
art mistaken in thy own conceit ; this is the truth 
which thou must follow." From this we can easily 
conceive how the sacred writers could say of the first 
Christians : They were all " of the same mind" and all 
had "the same faith" as they had the same "God" 
and the same " baptism." J For what they believed 
was not the dictates of human wisdom, but "the 
wisdom of God in a mystery," § which was preached 
to them, "not in the persuasive words of human 
eloquence," like a thesis of philosophy, which must 
be proved by argument before being admitted; but 
as a faith revealed by God, which they had to be- 
lieve or incur the penalty of disobedience to their 
Sovereign Lord and Creator. And as there was 
but one set of truths revealed by Jesus Christ and 

* St. Luke x. 16. 1 2 Cor. x. 5. $ Eph. iv. 5. § 1 Cor. ii. 2. 



The Parable of the Leaven. 



Ill 



preached by the Apostles, so all their disciples be- 
lieved the same, and had the same divine faith. This 
faith did not extinguish natural reason or hinder its 
further progress ; but every dogma was an infallibly 
true principle, from which every sound reasoning on 
the subject had to come in order to prove that it was 
true. There prevailed amongst all but one idea 
concerning the same revealed truth, consequently 
but one and the same faith. 

It is a certain fact that the divine leaven of truth, 
when communicated to the mind of an unbeliever 
or misbeliever, causes a fermentation. The mind is 
aroused from that deadly lethargy in which it was 
slumbering; because before that epoch it was only 
meal, insipid meal, and now the leaven acts upon it, 
pervading all its thoughts and ideas, purifying it 
from error, and never rests until the ivhole is lea- 
vened — that is to say, until all its views coincide 
with those of Christ — except the fermentation be 
suppressed by force ; then you have a mass of sub- 
stance which is neither meal nor leaven, and wholly 
unfit for use. Thus you see the whole process is pro- 
gressive, admitting one Catholic principle, through 
which the intellect is forced by the strictest logic to 
admit the whole Catholic doctrine. 

This divine leaven not only operates on our me- 
mory and intellect, but also on our will and its 
inferior affections, the passions. By the light of 
faith we are guided to the channels of grace 
opened to us in the holy sacraments, by which 
our will, naturally inclined to evil, obtains super- 
natural aid and strength to accomplish that which 
is good. These graces are sweet motions, certain 
helps, imparted to the will in order to enable it to 



112 The Parable of the Leaven, 



do what divine faith commands ; they strengthen 
the will in its struggles against the violent pas- 
sions that "wage war in our members"* — a fact 
which caused St. Paul to say, u I can do all things 
in Him who strengthened me." f 

Thus the divine leaven produces in man a tho- 
rough transformation ; and the more he imbibes it 
and surfers it to penetrate him in all his desires, 
actions, and words, the more perfect he becomes. 
Then may he say with the Apostle: "I live, but 
now not I : but Christ liveth in me." J The whole 
man is changed ; all in him is spiritualized, and 
sends . forth the sweet odor of that holy leaven 
which works within him. His intellect is illu- 
mined by the light of divine faith, every dogmt 
of which is to his memory a treasure of infallible 
knowledge infinitely safer and more reliable than 
all the reasonings of the most distinguished hu- 
man minds ; his will, strengthened and purified 
by divine grace, is conformed in all things to the 
will of God; his views are enlarged, his aspirations 
loftier, and his whole nature sanctified by grace ; 
he is a supernatural man, as Adam was in Para- 
dise before his fall. 

!Now, if we apply this parable to the Protestant 
system of doctrine we shall have to change it com- 
pletely, and say: The kingdom of heaven is likened 
to leaven, not which a ivoman tooh and hid in three 
measures of meal, but which every man that knows 
how to read, himself takes and turns into meal. 
As they do not believe in the infallibility of a teach- 
ing Church, there can be no place for the "woman" 



* St. James iv. 1. 



t Phil iv. 13. 



X Gal. ii. 20. 



The Parable of the Leaven. 



113 



mentioned in the parable. As every individual is 
declared to be his own proper judge in interpret- 
ing the holy Scriptures, then, all church authority 
ceases.,, and is as fallible as that of any private in- 
dividual. Hence, as a private individual, my opin- 
ion may be just as good as, and perhaps even better 
than, that of the whole fallible multitude. But 
in this case the very possibility of divine faith, 
without ivhich it is impossible to please God, ceases, 
and all collapses into mere human opinions. For 
faith, in the strict logical sense of the word, sig- 
nifies the firm assent of the mind to something 
which another asserts. I believe and I have faith 
in what another has told me. What I see with 
my own eyes and comprehend with my understand- 
ing, or what I have learned by experience, I do 
not, strictly speaking, believe, but I know it. Faith 
rests on authority ; knowledge on interior or ex- 
terior evidence. My faith is reasonable when I 
have good solid authority for believing ; my faith 
is human if the authority on which I rest my be- 
lief is human authority. But, even if I have di- 
vine authority for believing some particular truth, 
still I cannot make an act of divine faith without 
the special grace of God, which enlightens and 
moves my mind to a thorough assent in the truth 
which He has revealed. And as God does not give 
grace to err, nor to doubt His word, nor believe 
in human assertions, but grace to believe firmly 
the truths which He has revealed and as He re- 
vealed them, hence it follows that where every- 
thing amounts to nothing more than a mere opin- 
ion, which does not exclude error nor remove 
doubt, there can be no act of divine faith such as 



114 



The Parable of the Leaven. 



is essential for salvation, and by which "the just 
man liveth. " * 

Let a man read — yes, let him commit to memory, if 
he can — the whole Bible ; let him bear it in mij^L day 
and night ; let his speech be clothed in the identical 
words of Holy Writ ; he would perform an astonish- 
ing feat of memory, but he would not on this account 
have divine faith. He would have the dead " letter 
that Jeilleth, but not the spirit that quicheneth and 
animateth the letter." f It is not the letter, but the 
true meaning attached to the letter, which is required 
for making an act of faith ; and the meaning which 
he attaches to the letter, as long as he rejects the 
authority of the Church, the divinely-appointed 
teacher of truth, will never amount to more than 
human opinion, whether it be his own private opin- 
ion or that of his sectarian clergyman, or of the 
synod or of the founder of his sect, all of whom are 
as fallible as himself. 

St. Paul, in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, 
speaks thus : " The sensual man perceiveth not these 
things that are of the Spirit of God ; for it is foolish- 
ness to him, and he cannot understand because it is 
spiritually examined. But the spiritual man judgeth 
all things : and he himself is judged of no man." J 
Here the Apostle distinguishes between the sensual 
and spiritual man. The sensual man is he that tests 
everything by the testimony of the senses — that is, by 
his natural faculties of knowledge. But there is a 
higher order of knowledge than that of the sensual 
man — namely, spiritual intelligence, which belongs 
to the spiritual man, who believes things that do not 
fall under the testimony of the senses, but are of 

* Heb. x. 38. t 2 Cor. iii. 6. X 1 Cor. ii. 14. 



The Parable of the Leaven* 



115 



a higher order, and can only be spiritually examined 
by him who is already spiritual — that is to say, 
enlightened by the divine light of faith. 

Now, any one who attempts to form his own re- 
ligion or creed with no guide or teacher but the dead 
letter of the Bible — which in this case he supposes 
gratis to be the word of God — with no other light 
than that of his own reason and senses, how much or 
how little soever that may be, places himself in the 
position of that sensual man spoken of by St. Paul. 
What he understands he accepts ; what he does not 
he rejects, or at least passes over it as not necessary, 
if he does not go a step lower and laugh at it or ridi- 
cule it as foolishness. He forms his own private 
opinion on what he accepts and what he rejects, and 
the collection of his own opinions forms his creed, 
his religion. But who does not see that thus he 
transforms the divine-given truth, which should be 
accepted and believed in the one true sense in which 
it was revealed, into a mere human opinion ; in other 
words, he changes the leaven into meal, but not the 
meal into leaven ? " The mysteries of the kingdom 
of heaven " * (Jesus Christ Himself informs us that 
there are mysteries in His religion : "To you it is 
given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of 
heaven") — these mysteries are truths revealed by 
God which our limited understanding cannot com- 4 
prehend. If they could be comprehended or under- 
stood by us they would cease to be mysteries. But 
Protestantism does away with mysteries, and boasts 
of teaching nothing but what is plain, open, clear. 
What a fearful admission ! These mysteries must be 
believed. Our limited understanding is as little 

* St. Matt. xiii. 11. 



116 



The Parable of the Leaven. 



adapted to scrutinize tliem as the naked eye is to 
gaze on the sun at noonday ; if firmly believed they 
explain each other, and have, if spiritually examined, 
the most intimate connection with each other ; and 
whereas the sensual man that has no faith but only 
private opinion for his guide finds nothing but 
absurdities and matter for scoff and silly ridicule, 
the spiritual man, who examines these mysteries 
spiritually, discovers in them the most astonishing 
manifestations of the omnipotence, goodness, and 
mercy of an infinitely-loving and bountiful God. 

The spiritual man, believing with divine faith in 
the mysteries of religion, is not debarred the free 
exercise of his natural faculties of reasoning. " The 
spiritual man judgeth all things/' but now no more 
in the dim light of natural fallible understanding, 
but in the divine light of supernatural faith which 
is superadded to the light of his natural intelligence. 
With this gift he thinks as God thinks concerning 
these revealed doctrines ; he judges as God judges ; 
and as the judgments of God are often different from 
those of men, it is no wonder that "the wisdom of . 
this world is foolishness with God" * and the wis- 
dom of God foolishness with the world. 

If Catholicity has labored during nineteen centu- 
ries to raise fallen man from the state of degradation 
and sensuality into which sin had plunged him, by 
implanting in his heart that heavenly wisdom which 
enabled him to receive those sublime truths which 
she learned from her divine Founder Himself, and 
which will be preserved in her for all ages to come 
by the Holy Spirit, "the Spirit of truth abiding with 
her for ever/' f it was reserved for Protestantism to 

* 1 Cor. iii. 19. t St. John xiv. 16. 



Hie Parable of the Leaven. 



117 



abolish this heavenly wisdom and do away with one 
mystery after another, so as to bring down every di- 
vine revelation to the mere level of natural truth, 
assigning to Jesus Christ, at most, a place among the 
philosophers of His age, if not amongst the impos- 
tors ! 

" Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sad- 
ducees." * 

* St. Matt. xvi. 6.— Note. Remarkable enough is the following quota- 
tion from Luther's Kirchen Postille (Explanations of the Gospel), page 92, 
published at Wittenberg in 1580, concerning the tradition of the Church and 
private judgment : 4 ' Die Christliche Kirche behalt nu alle Wort in ihreia 
Hertzen und bewegt dieselbe, helt sie gegeneinander, und gegen die Schriflt. 
Darumb wer Christum finden soil, der musz die Kirche am ersten finden. 
Wie woilt man wissen, wo Christus ware, wenn man nicht wuste, wo seine 
Glaubige sind ? und wer etwas von Christo wissen will, der musz nicht ihm 
(sich) selbst trauen, noch eine cigene Bracken in den Himmel bauen durch 
seine eigene Yernunf t, sondern zu der Kirchen gehen, dieselbe besuchenund 
fragen. Nu ist die Kirche nicht Holz und Stein, sondern der Hauif 
Christglaubiger Leuthe. Zu denen musz man sich halten, wie die Glaubige 
leben, und lehren ; die haben Christum gewisslich bei sich. Den ausser der 
Christlichen Kirchen ist kein Wahrheit, kein Christus, keine Seeligkeit. 1 '' 
(Now, the Christian Church retains all words in her heart, considers and 
compares them with each other, as also with the Scriptures. Therefore who- 
ever wants to find Christ must first find the Church. How could a man 
know where Christ is without knowing where His followers are ? And 
Whoever wants to know something about Christ must not trust himself, nor 
build his own bridge to heaven with his own reason, but must visit and ask 
the Church. Now, the Church is not a building of wood and stone, but the 
assembly of faithful Christian people. He must keep with these, and live 
and teach as they do ; for most assuredly Christ is with them, and outside 
of the Christian Church there is no truth, no Christ, no salvation.) 



SECTION V. 



TEE TREASURE IN TEE FIELD. 



" The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a 
field: which a man having found, hideth, and for joy thereof 
goeth, and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field."— St. 
Matt. xiii. 44. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE CHURCH AND HER TREASURE. 

TN this parable our Saviour represents to us a man 
A who has found the true Church, and in this 
Church the treasure of divine truth and grace de- 
posited therein by her founder, Jesus Christ. Our 
Lord also gives us to understand that there are other 
fields in which there is no treasure, so that they are 
worthless when compared to that which contains the 
precious treasure. Now, as it is not sufficient for 
a man to know that there exists a field containing a 
rich treasure, without knowing at the same time 
what particular field it is, in like manner it is not 
enough to know that there is a Church wherein 
Christ has deposited His saving grace and doctrine; 
he must also know which, among so many rival 
churches, is the true one where this great treasure 
is deposited. Moreover, it does not suffice to know 
which is the field that contains the treasure, or which 

118 



The Treasure in the Field. 



119 



is the true Church of Jesus Christ — its possession 
must also be secured ; and if it costs all a man has it 
is never bought too dearly, wherever it is found. 
Other fields may yield their best productions, but 
this field, besides bringing forth good fruit, contains 
a treasure infinitely more valuable than all the gold 
of California and Australia. 

What would an enterprising American leave un- 
done in order to secure the possession of a piece of 
land — no matter where it was situated, provided only 
it was at all accessible — had he sufficient proof that 
the land in question contained an inexhaustible mine 
of gold and precious stones, w r hich could be reached 
at any time he undertook to explore the mine ? Most 
assuredly he would act like the man mentioned in the 
parable. For joy he would go and sell all that he 
hath, and run into debt if necessary, in order to buy 
that field ; and having found the treasure hidden in 
the field, he would make no stir about his discovery 
before he had bought and secured certain possession 
of the field, Little would he care what people said, 
even if they laughed at him, and if the newspapers, 
always interested in such events, pronounced him a 
maniac who wasted his property in order to purchase 
an apparently ordinary piece of land, when he might 
purchase at the same price whole sections of ex- 
quisite soil. Even if this field were in a distant 
country under a despotic government, he would 
waive the question of liberty and exile for a time, his 
mind being too much engrossed with the idea of se- 
curing his treasure to allow any other concern to 
trouble him. He would persistently seek for it at 
any cost, secure its possession, and afterwards enjoy 
his precious treasure at home in the land of the free. 



120 



The Treasure in the Field. 



Now, behold! there is actually in the world such a 
field with such a treasure ; our Saviour Himself as- 
sures us of it ; but he that finds it and wishes to pos- 
sess it must give "all he has" in exchange for it. 
Whether that " all " be much or little, provided only 
that it be all, it will be given to him, and he will be 
made at once a rich man in time and eternity. 

Where, then, is this field ? And in what field is 
this priceless treasure ? There are so many fields in 
the world, and only one of them contains the hidden 
treasure. Where is it ? I answer : Ask history. The 
treasure was hidden in that field by the Sou of God 
made man ; it is the same field wherein He sowed the 
good seed and planted the mustard-tree which be- 
came larger than all the herbs. Any other field that 
was not oinder cultivation at the time the good man 
was on earth personally to cultivate it, cannot be that 
field. It is His own particular field ; there He sowed 
the good seed and hid the treasure of heavenly grace 
and truth. If you spend all you possess in buying 
other fields than this one you suffer loss ; the loss of 
that treasure in the field is a greater loss for you 
than if you owned and lost the entire universe. He 
Himself, the infinitely great God, had to give all He 
had to purchase it for us : " Who being in the form 
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant. 
. . . He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto 
death, even to the death of the cross." * No wonder, 
then, that He requires also all we have in exchange 
for such a treasure. 

This valuable treasure is hidden "from the wise 
and prudent " f of this world, who think it an ab- 

* Phil, iu 6-8. t St. Matt. xi. 25. 



The Treasure in the Field. 



121 



surdity and folly to sacrifice material goods for spi- 
ritual, the temporal for the eternal, the present for 
the future, to give up one's own views and will for 
the views and will of Almighty God, present plea- 
sures and comforts for future ones, or to renounce 
the honors of this world for the everlasting delights 
and honors of the world to come ; but this treasure 
is "revealed to little ones" who do not consider 
themselves too great or intelligent to be taught by 
any one whom God may appoint to teach them, and 
are willing to give whatever they possess in this life 
in order to secure the never-ending pleasures of eter- 
nity. u I confess to thee, Father, Lord of heaven 
and earth," prayed the Saviour of the world, "be- 
cause Thou hast hid these things from the wise and 
prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones";* 
and again He says: "Amen, 1 say to you, unless 
you be converted, and become as little children, you 
shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." f Now, 
if the treasure in the field is revealed to such little 
ones, I am happy to say these little ones are the 
faithful children of the Catholic Church. For if the 
Catholic is distinguished from the Protestant by be- 
lieving more than the Protestant believes — therefore 
by credulity— the Protestant differs from the Catholic 
by not believing enough — therefore by incredulity. 
Children are naturally credulous ; a child will always 
believe what its parents say, no matter what others 
may say to the contrary, for the simple reason that 
father or mother said so ; and if the parents are up- 
right, pious Christians, and the child continues sub- 
ject to their government, there is no doubt but the 
child will also be a good Christian. This faith of the 

* St. Matt. xi. 25. t Ibid, xviii. 3. 



122 



The Treasure in the Field. 



child is a source of bliss for it, as it was for our first 
parents in Paradise ; they were happy as long as 
they believed what God had said to them, but fell 
and ruined themselves when they gave up this child- 
like faith and doubted about the word pf their hea- 
venly Father. This simple faith Jesus Christ re- 
quired from His followers from the very beginning. 
As they believed in " God the Father Almighty, Crea- 
tor of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only 
Son, and in the Holy Ghost," so also they were re- 
quired to believe in the holy Catholic Church. They 
were taught to believe and obey the holy Catholic 
Church, as they believed and obeyed God the Father, 
God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost ; and as they 
were taught to look upon God as their father, so they 
were taught to regard the Church as their mother. 
Wherefore St. Cyprian writes: "No one can have 
God for a father who has not the Church for his 
mother." As long as the children of the .Church 
with childlike simplicity believed and obeyed their 
mother while absent from their Father there was 
peace and happiness amongst them ; they worked to- 
gether all day in the same field of the Father and 
enriched themselves with its hidden treasures ; but 
when some became ungovernable and revolted against 
their mother, refusing to believe or obey her any 
longer, and even went so far as to calumniate and de- 
spise her, pretending to know the will of the Father 
better than she did, and, taking with them a printed 
copy of the title-deed of the true field (the Bible), 
went to look for other fields, then peace and harmony 
were at an end and strife and discord prevailed — 
not amongst those who continued faithful to their 
mother, but amongst the seceders, who settled down 



The Treasure in the Field, 



123 



on different fields, and commenced quarrelling among 
themselves concerning the meaning of their title- 
deed and who amongst them possessed the true field; 
disagreeing in all matters, yet united in one point — 
that is to say, a steadfast denial that the field of their 
former mother is the genuine field containing the 
treasure. Yes, so blinded as to persuade themselves 
that the farther they separated themselves from the 
field of their mother the more 'treasure they obtained. 

Moreover, Catholics believe in a treasure of the 
Church, consisting of the infinite satisfaction and 
merits of J esus Christ, and the limited though still 
copious satisfaction and merits of the Virgin Mother 
of God and of numberless other saints, which form a 
precious treasure that Christ rias left to His Church, 
with power to dispense it to the faithful in the form 
of indulgences, to which they, as well as the suffer- 
ing souls in purgatory that are " saved, yet as by 
fire/'* are entitled by the " Communion of Saints" 
taught in the Apostles' Creed : and in this sense also 
the parable represents Catholic, not Protestant, teach- 
ing, since Protestants deny altogether the existence 
of such a treasure. 

But supposing that Protestants knew what is the 
field and the treasure mentioned in the parable ; they 
cannot say — even the most sincere, the most pious 
and devoted among them — that they give all they 
have in exchange for it. They may give property 
and talent, time and labor — yea, even their very 
lives and all they hold dear in life — for the gospel of 
Jesus Christ ; still they cannot say, " We have given 
all," as long as they reserve to themselves their pri- 
vate judgment and refuse to hear the Church which 

* 1 Cor. iii. 15. 



124 



The Treasure in the Field. 



Christ commanded them to hear, as well as us, there- 
by " bringing into subjection their own understanding 
unto the obedience of Christ."* The principal, the 
most noble part of the sacrifice — that of the under- 
standing — the one most pleasing to Almighty God, 
they refuse to make ; and, though haying left all 
for Christ's sake, they did not leave their own opin- 
ion, their own private judgment ; hence they never 
can say with the Apostles: " Behold we have left all 
things and have followed thee." f They must modify 
the saying in this manner : " We have left all things 
except the right — if we ever had any before God — to 
our own private opinion, no matter how far opposed 
to the doctrines of Jesus Christ ; we have not fol- 
lowed Christ, and His Church which was to teach us 
in His place, but we followed those who went aw 7 ay 
from that Church — ' Speaking perverse things, to 
draw away disciples after them/ \ We believe that 
Christ said to the pastors of His Church : ' Behold, 
I am with you all days, even to the consummation of 
the world/ § and that the Spirit of Truth would abide 
with them for ever ; but we do not believe that He 
accomplished His promise. We prefer to believe 
what those who revolted said and taught us to be- 
lieve — namely, that Christ and the Spirit of Truth 
remained with that Church, not till the end of time, 
as He said, but only for four or five hundred years, 
and then abandoned it to vice and error, until the 
Eeformers rose up and started, not one, but many 
churches in place of that ancient one founded by 
Christ and His Apostles. In these churches every 
one is free to believe as he will respecting the teach- 
ings of Christ, taught by the Spirit of Truth— con- 

* 2 Cor. x. 5. + St. Matt. xix. 27. % Acts xx. 30. § St. Matt, xxviii. 80. 



The Treasure in the Field. 125 

sequently, all truth — if lie only be sincere and pray 
fervently, although no two may believe alike. And 
even if the writings of the earliest Fathers of the 
Church and all historical monuments prove that 
the Catholics of our day believe exactly what the 
first Christians believed, it is little matter to us ; we 
had rather believe what the founders of our sect and 
our ministers say ; and we cannot and will not give 
up our own opinion." Now, does a man of such 
sentiments "give all that he has"? And here I 
may be allowed to ask : How can any sincere 
Protestant believe that he loves his God with his 
whole heart when his heart is so attached to his sect 
and whatever binds him to it ? How does he love 
God with his whole soul when he refuses to give Him 
the noblest part — the understanding — which should, 
submit to faith and not master it ? How does he 
love God with all his mind when his mind is so 
divided that, even if he admits that God has given a 
revelation, he still keeps his own mind about what 
this revelation demands and signifies ? How does 
he love his God with all his strength when he is un- 
willing to employ that strength in bringing into 
captivity his proud understanding unto the obedi- 
ence of Christ, but makes use of all his mind and 
strength to resist the authority of those whom "the 
Holy Ghost has placed bishops to rule the Church 
of God, which He hath purchased with His own 
blood"?* 

Love does not consist in words, but in a commu- 
nication of the goods we possess. If, then, God so 
loves us as to give us Himself with all that He has, 
it is no wonder that He requires man to make Him 

* Acts xx. 28. 



126 



The Treasure in the Field. 



the .only return which is in his power to make to 
His infinite goodness — his own limited self. My 
saying stands firm : " Unless a man renounce all that 
he possesseth he cannot be My disciple." * But this 
whole self is not given and this renouncement is not 
made when something is reserved • hence even the 
most learned and pious Protestants, the most strict 
observers of the law, who keep to themselves a right 
of private judgment, cannot expect to possess God. 
" Whosoever revolteth, and continueth not in the 
doctrine of Christ, hath not God." f 

Now, were I to adapt this parable to Protestantism, 
I should have to alter it in this way : The kingdom 
of heaven is likened to as many fields as there are 
Protestant sects, in which there is no hidden treasure 
— for nothing is hidden in Protestantism ; all is plain 
to the limited judgment of man, and whatever had 
the appearance of mystery or was unintelligible is 
done away with or passed over. To purchase one 
of these fields a man can give whatever he chooses. 
There are enough of such fields in the market to 
suit every one's taste ; and if those in existence will 
not suit him he can start a field of his own. He is 
as much entitled to his own opinion as the first 
Eeformers were. He need not be troubled about the 
price ; he will pay dear enough for it in eternity. 

* St. Luke siv. 33. t 2 Ep. St. John 9. 



SECTION VI. 



PARABLE OF TEE PEARLS. 



''Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant seek- 
ing good pearls. Who when he had found one pearl of great 
price, went his way, and sold all that he had, and bought it," 
— St. Matt, xiii. 45, 46. 



CHAPTEE I. 

ALL THE MEAN'S 0E GRACE AND PIOUS PRACTICES IN 
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ARE SO MANY PRECIOUS 
PEARLS WHICH SHE BESTOWS ON" HER FAITHFUL 
CHILDREN. 

IF Protestantism has no claim to the preceding 
parable of the treasure in the field it has much 
less in the present case. Its fundamental principle 
of salvation by faith alone, and its denial of the 
necessity of good works, exclude at once every idea 
of that spiritual traffic in which a man has to give 
all in order to obtain all. According to their notion 
man has nothing to give ; he may keep all he has and 
could give to himself ; he has only to have faith in 
Christ, and he is entitled to the possession of all 
which Christ is able and willing to give. There are 
no " good pearls " which he has to purchase, but 
only one " pearl of great price" to him, and this is 

127 



128 



Parable of the Pearls. 



his own salvation ; this he hopes to obtain, not by 
selling all he has and buying it, but by believing in 
Him who gave all He had, even His life, to purchase 
it for him. 

But the Catholic knows that there are many other 
beautiful pearls, besides this pearl of faith in Christ, 
wherewith he is to be adorned in his heavenly home, 
all of which Christ purchased with His sacred blood 
and deposited in His Church. And although the 
Saviour of the world purchased them for all of us 
from His heavenly Father, yet only those who pur- 
chase them from Him, by giving all for all, will 
obtain their actual possession. In other words, our 
salvation and spiritual perfection, and consequently 
our future glory, require our co-operation with ail 
the graces and gifts of God by a life of labor, of 
suffering, and of sacrifice, walking in the footsteps 
of Christ according to the measure of grace given 
us by Him who labored, suffered, and sacrificed 
Himself for us. For which reason St. Augustine 
says : "He that created thee without thee, will not 
save thee without thee " ; following in this the 
Apostle St. Paul, who said: "If we have suffered 
with Him we shall be also glorified with Him." * 
And St. James says : "Faith without good works is 
dead." f St. Peter also speaks in the same sense: 
"Wherefore, brethren, labor the more, that by good 
works you make sure your calling and election." J 
But now to the parable itself. 

"The kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant 
seeking good pearls." Every true Christian must, in 
a spiritual sense, be a merchant ; he must give in 
order to receive : material goods for spiritual, tem- 

* Rom. viii. 17. t St. James ii. 20. % 2 Ep. St. Peter i. 10. 



Parable of the Pearls. 



129 



poral for eternal, the perishable things of time for 
the never-ending bliss of heaven. The merchant 
who seeks good pearls knows well that there are also 
many spurious counterfeit pearls in the market ; and 
as it would be a great loss to him to spend all his 
wealth in the purchase of a pearl which after all 
would turn out not to be a good, genuine pearl, so 
also it is an immense loss to give one's whole life 
and time and labor for a religion which, after all, 
is not the true religion of Jesus Christ, but only its 
counterfeit. 

Only think of the disappointment of a merchant 
who has spent all his money and means to buy a 
pearl, by the sale of which he expects to make a 
fortune ; but behold, when he presents it for sale it 
is found to be nothing but glass ! He is indeed a 
ruined man ; and so is every man who professes a 
false religion and spends his whole life and talents in 
its defence and support. He will find, when too 
late, that It is nothing more than a pearl of glass, of 
no value whatever in the sight of God. It may pass 
for a good pearl in this life among those who know 
not what a good pearl is ; but it will not pass in the 
next world, where " the fire shall try every man's 
work, of what sort it is." * 

In order to be sure that the pearl we purchase with 
all our wealth is a good pearl, we must have a good 
knowledge of pearls; and if we ourselves do not 
possess this knowledge we must rely on the judg- 
ment of trustworthy persons who have this know- 
ledge. There are many impostors in the world who 
are intent on making money — honestly, if they can ; 
but, if not, to make it somehow at the expense of 

* 1 Cor. iii. 13. 



130 



Parable of the Pearls. 



the unsuspecting and unwary — and who run from 
house to house and swear that the bead of glass 
which they offer for sale is a real pearl, although 
they never possessed one in their lives, nor even the 
means to purchase one good pearl. Now, as Al- 
mighty God wants us to be merchants dealing in 
pearls, He cannot have left us without a certain and 
infallible method whereby we can discover the good 
pearls. He must have established an authority on 
earth which cannot err, and which has a full know- 
ledge of such matters, in order to direct our choice 
in this important affair. And certainly He has done 
so ; for what better and surer authority can be de- 
sired than the authority of those to whom Jesus 
Christ has entrusted these precious, heavenly pearls, 
that they may dispense them all over the world, till 
the end of time, to those whom they find worthy to 
receive them, and who are willing to comply with 
the conditions required for their purchase ? Christ 
Himself said to His Apostles and their successors : 
" Give not that which is holy to dogs, neither cast 
ye your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample 
them under their feet, and turning upon you tear 
you." * Hence St. Paul says : "Let a man so account 
of us as of the ministers of Christ and the dispensers 
of the mysteries of God. Here now it is required 
among the dispensers: that a man be found faith- 
ful." f Now, these faithf ul dispensers were not only 
necessary in the times of Christ and His Apostles, as 
these holy things, these good pearls, were not destined 
merely for their contemporaries, but for all future 
generations, who were also to be instructed by " faith- 
ful men who were able to instruct others." J These 

* St. Matt. vii. 6. t 1 Cor. iv. 1, 2. $2 Tim. ii. 2. 



Parable of the Pearls. 



131 



"faithful men" are not travelling preachers and 
peddlers who travel over land and sea to distribute 
tracts and Bibles, no matter to whom, "casting 
pearls before swine and giving a holy thing to dogs," 
but they are men whom the Holy Ghost hath chosen 
and placed "bishops to rule the Church of God,"* 
headed and united by St. Peter and his successors, 
—that "faithful and wise steward whom the Lord 
hath set over his family." f They have received 
not only the ministry "of the Word" of God, which 
Protestant ministers also claim, but the "dispensa- 
tion of the mysteries of God," which most of these 
ministers discard, as they want no mysteries nor any 
of those truths which surpass their limited under- 
standing. These mysteries, which some sectarians 
regard as mummeries and nonsense, are inestimably 
good pearls in the eyes of the Church, which has 
received them as a precious treasure from her divine 
founder, Jesus Christ, together with the knowledge 
of the "mysteries of the kingdom of heaven"; 
whereas to those that are outside this knowledge is 
"not given." J 

What are these mysteries ? What are these good 
pearls ? They are not only every doctrine of Jesus 
Christ and every dogma of His Church, but every 
holy sacrament, every pious practice, every rule and 
ordinance of the Church ; every means of practising 
and advancing virtue and good works ; every means 
of conferring and increasing the sanctifying grace of 
God, consequently sanctity and holiness of life, 
which is a pearl of infinite value, and adorns the soul 
with such transcendent beauty that the mind of man 
can never conceive its inestimable grandeur and love- 

* Acts xx. 28. t St. Luke xii. 42. $ St. Matt. xffl. 11. 



132 



Parable of the Pearls. 



liness. Moreover, each of these heavenly gifts was 
purchased at the infinite price of the precious blood 
of Jesus, from which it derives all its beauty and 
virtue. The least of them is worth buying, even at 
the risk of losing all that a man holds dear in this 
life. Even a drop of holy water or a blessed medal 
is to the pious believer a "holy thing," a valuable 
pearl. " The sensual man, who perceive th not the 
things that are of the Spirit of God," despises them ; 
they are "foolishness to him."* But the true 
Christian believes that " every creature is sanctified 
by prayer and the word of God," f and when sancti- 
fied it is a "holy thing" and not to be given to dogs 
— that is to say, to such as would have no more re- 
spect for it than a dog, if it were given to him. 

Catholics not only respect and revere all those 
things which Protestants respect in common with 
them, but also many other things which Protestants 
reject are sacred to the faithful Catholic, and valued 
as good pearls of infinite price, were it for no other 
reason than that they are "sanctified by the word of 
God and the prayers " of the Church. Among all 
the heresies which have ever arisen since the founda- 
tion of Christianity, there is not one so poor in holy 
things as Protestantism. All others have rejected 
but one or another, but Protestantism made a clean 
sweep of all good pearls. The only thing it retained 
was a mutilated Bible in a defective translation, 
which every man can interpret for himself according 
to his notions or his prejudices ; whereas the true 
meaning of Scripture, with all the treasures of grace 
necessary for our salvation and perfection, remain as 
priceless pearls in the hands of the Catholic Church. 

* 1 Cor. ii. 14. 1 1 Tim. iv. 5. 



Parable of the Pearls. 



133 



CHAPTER II. 

THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE REPRESENTS ALSO THE 
EVANGELICAL COUNSELS PRACTISED AND RECOM- 
MENDED BY JESUS CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES. 

H 1T7HEN he had found one pearl of great price he 
' » went his way, and sold all he had, and bought 
it." If a man has to give all for any of t e goal 
pearls which are bestowed by Jesus Christ, how 
much more readily should he renounce all and sell 
all he possesses to purchase one particular pearl of 
exceeding great value, far surpassing all the others in 
beauty and magnificence ! Here Protestantism has 
to be silent ; it has no one gift of greater value than 
the rest ; it considers all alike, one way, one orna- 
ment, one treasure for all— faith in the Redeemer. 
The Apostle St. Paul exhorts Christians in these 
words : "Be zealous for better gifts. And I show 
unto you yet a more perfect way."* Protestantism 
has no such better gifts; it has not a more excellent 
way than the one which it points out to all its fol- 
lowers — belief in the Lord Jesus. 

Suppose a Protestant young man of great wealth 
and piety, like the one mentioned in the Gospel, f 
were to go to his minister, no matter to what Protes- 
tant creed he belonged, and say to him : " Eeverend 
sir, I feel within me a great attraction to the human 
life of our Blessed Lord, and I desire most ardently 
to imitate, as far as -it is possible for me, His manner 
of life on earth — His poverty, His chastity, His obe- 
dience. I will do as He advised the young man to 
do — go and sell all that I have and give it to the 
poor, and live in the strictest poverty myself in dress, 

* 1 Cor. xii. 31. + St. Matt. xix. 21. 



134 



Parable of the Pearls. 



lodging, and all else that I may need — yes, live on 
alms.* Moreover, as our Saviour never was married, 
and St. Paul says it is better f not to marry, I intend 
to renounce marriage altogether and be one of those 
of whom Christ said : 6 They have made themselves 
eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven.' % I understand 
from this text that our Lord means a state of celibacy 
and virginity— a state of life which pleases me par- 
ticularly, because it makes men so like the angels ; 
I also read in Scripture that they who practise it 
' follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.' § Such, 
then, is the excellence of virginity in my estimation 
that I resolve to practise it. Finally, as Jesus Christ 
practised obedience at His entrance into this world 
and all His lifetime, ' becoming obedient unto death, 
even the death of the cross/ || and as mankind fell 
from God by disobedience and have to return to Him 
by obedience, I wish to practise this virtue in all the 
actions of my life, to obey when I pray, when I work, 
even when I eat or drink or sleep — in a word, in all 
things that are not sin. Therefore I wish to submit 
myself to a lawful superior whose orders I can obey 
as if they came from the lips of Christ, who says, 
6 He that heareth you heareth Me,' % and who also 
says that * it is easier for a camel to pass through the 
eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the 
kingdom of heaven ' ; ** that ' with men this is im- 
possible, but with God all things are possible.' f f For 
this reason I will follow the counsel of Jesus, who 
said to the young man in the Gospel : c If thou wilt 
be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the 
poor ; and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : and 

* St. Luke viii. 3. t 1 Cor. vii. 38. X St. Matt. xix. 12. § Apoc. xiv. 4 
i Phil. ii. 8. J St. Luke x. 16. ** St. Matt. xix. 24. ft Ibid. xix. 26, 



Parable of the Pearls. 



135 



come, follow Me.'* This, reverend sir, is my deter- 
mination, and I wish to have your advice and direc- 
tion in such an important matter." 

What would be the answer of the Protestant minis- 
ter to this good youth ? Would he say : " Yes, my 
young friend ; you have read the Bible without note 
or comment on what you have read — 6 This do and 
thou shalt live 9 99 f f Or would he not rather shake his 
head and say warmly : "You go too far; if you do 
this you will be a Romanist ; all this is not neces- 
sary 5 you must not go to extremes ; if Christ said so 
He did not mean it in that way," etc., etc. ? Poor 
Protestant ministers ! Whenever their opinion differs 
from the words of Jesus Christ they will not deny 
that Christ said so, but they pretend that He did not 
mean what He said ; as if our Lord was like those 
self-styled ministers of the Gospel, who never mean 
what they say and never say what they mean ! 

But come, dear young man or woman, whoever you 
be, rich or poor, if you "take this word" and think 
it is given to you: "If thou wilt be perfect," J and 
are 61 zealous for better gifts," § come to any faithful, 
zealous Catholic priest, and he will "show unto you 
yet a more excellent way " — this pearl of exceeding 
great price, which surpasses in brightness and glory 
all other pearls, and all other gifts obtained in less 
" excellent ways." There are thousands of both sexes 
in the Catholic Church who "take this word," and 
not only have sold all they possessed and have given 
it to the poor, but have also left ]| house, and breth- 
ren and sisters, father, mother, wife and children, 
and lands, and whatever was dear to them in this 

* St. Matt. xix. 21. f St. Luke x. 28. t St. Matt. xix. 11, 21. 
§ 1 Cor. xii. 31. U St. Matt. xix. 29. 



136 



Parable of the Pearls. 



life, to follow Jesus Christ as closely as possible in 
religious communities by tlie practice of poverty, 
chastity, and obedience ; these are they who follow 
the more excellent way, after the example of the first 
Christians, who "had but one heart and one soul, 
neither did any one say that aught of the things 
which he possessed was his own, but all things were 
common unto them." * 

Poor Protestantism, which bpasts of following the 
pure Gospel, has never yet succeeded in leading any 
of its followers in this more perfect way I If it 
sometimes makes an effort it always fails in the end ; 
whereas the Catholic Church, in all ages and coun- 
tries, among all the nations which she has converted 
to Christ, has found thousands of those chosen souls 
that, zealous for tetter gifts, have followed Jesus 
Christ in this yet more excellent way, that have 
formed the fairest portion of her flock on earth as 
well as the most brilliant gem in her heavenly dia- 
dem. Our Divine Lord has said : "All men do not 
take this word, but they to whom it is given. 9 f The 
Protestant Bible has : " All men cannot receive this 
saying, save they to whom it is given." If it is not 
given to those who do not take it, how much less to 
those who say they cannot take it ? Here Protestant- 
ism is vanquished, and Catholicity retains possession 
of this "one pearl of great price," which is continu- 
ally sought after by numbers of her devoted chil- 
dren, who willingly sell all they have to purchase it ; 
for she "taketh the word," and to her it is given. 
She alone teaches the true Gospel of Jesus Christ in 
all its perfection. 

Acts iv. 32. + St. Matt. xix. 11. 



SECTION TIL 



THE PARABLE OF THE NET 



" Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a net cast into the 
sea, and gathering together all kind of fishes." — St. Matt. 
xiii. 47. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE 2s ET IS A FIGURE OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRUE 
CHURCH, OUT OF WHICH THERE IS ST0 SALVATION. 

IT was not by mere chance or accident, but in the 
wise designs of His holy Providence, that our 
blessed Saviour chose His Apostles from among fisher- 
men ; that from the bark of Peter he quelled the 
storm and taught the multitude ; or that St. Peter, 
at the bidding of His Divine Master, launched into 
the deep and procured the miraculous draught of 
fishes, so that " their net broke. 5 '* A man must 
indeed be devoid of understanding if he does not 
see how beautifully this miraculous draught of fishes 
typifies the great draught of souls which St. Peter 
particularly was to make when he became "a fisher 
of men." And as the miracles of our Lord, like all 
His other actions, contain lessons for our instruction 
and edification just as well as His parables— they 

* St. Luke v. 6. 
137 



138 



The Parable of the Net 



in the present case most beautifully and appropriately 
illustrate each other — and as both are intended to 
convey the same doctrine, we may, without doing 
violence to the sacred text, use the account of the 
miraculous draught of fishes to illustrate the parable 
of the net. "The kingdom of heaven is like to a 
net cast into the sea." The sea is, manifestly, this 
world we live in — "that great sea, which stretch eth 
wide its arms; there are creeping things without 
number, creatures little and great. . . . This 
sea-dragon which thou hast formed to play therein." * 
This world is a sea, whose troubled waves are con- 
stantly in motion, and whose calm, if there be any, 
is immediately disturbed by w T inds and tempests ; 
where thousands of monsters are in pursuit of the 
fishes that inhabit its waters and for whom there is 
no security except they are caught in the net of Peter 
and conveyed in safety to the bark where Jesus pre- 
sides. Hence, if the sea is the world, and the great 
dragon, the devil, is "the prince of this world," f 
we can well understand why St. Peter admonishes us 
to "be sober and watchful, because your adversary, 
the devil, goeth about like a roaring lion seeking 
whom he may devour."'" J 

Now, as to the parable, the net represents the word 
of God, the eternal truth, revealed to man in the Old 
and ISFew Testaments ; and as the net which is used 
by fishermen is made of one and the same thread 
knitted into meshes, inseparable from each other, 
so the net of divine doctrine is made of one and the 
same eternal truth. Although it has a great many 
meshes, it is but one thread. If you cut one thread 
of a mesh you are in danger of disuniting the whole 

* Ps. ciii. 25, 26. t St. John xii. 31., xiv. 30., xvi. 11. % 1 St. Peter v. 8. 



The Parable of the Net. 



139 



net when force is used against it ; so also if you deny 
one point of the doctrine of Jesus Christ the force of 
logic may push you to deny the whole of it. It is the 
same with divine faith as with mathematics : if you 
admit one proposition you have to admit all or reject 
all. There is no such thing as half or quarter be- 
lief where faith is concerned. The same divine au- 
thority which you have for believing one dogma of 
faith you have for admitting all others; and these 
dogmas are so closely connected and interwoven with 
each other that if you deny one you have to deny all 
others that are based upon it. Martin Luther, the 
founder of Protestantism, acknowledged this truth 
when he wrote (a.d. 1544): "Therefore you are 
bound plain and flat either to believe all and every- 
thing whole and entire or to believe nothing. The 
Holy Ghost cannot be separated or divided so as to 
teach or believe one part to be true and the other 
false." * Thus spoke the great Eeformer himself. 
Would to God he had acted according to his 
words ! 

The net is the doctrine of Jesus Christ ; it is one, 
whole, and entire ; one dogma perfectly corresponds 
to all the others • there is nothing unreasonable or 
contradictory in it. Like a very long train of rea- 
soning, consequences become premises for other con- 
sequences, and nothing but want of logic and sound 
argument can break through this net designed to 
catch souls and "bring into captivity every created 
understanding unto the obedience of Christ." f As 
a specimen of what I advance I will lead the reader 
from one end of this net to the other ; that is, 
through the Old and New Testament, as they are but 

* Edit. Jen., fol. 180a. t 2 Cor. x. 5. 



140 The Parable of the Net. 



one in point of doctrine. I will lead him from one 
corner of the net, which is the beginning of the 
world, to the other, which is in the hands of St. 
Peter, who draws it to Christ. 

That God created man is a fact which philosophy 
proves and revelation teaches. Starting from this 
principle, I reason thus : If God has created man He 
must have created him for a certain end ; for God 
cannot act without a purpose, without an end, pro- 
posed to Himself in His action. This end must be 
either natural or supernatural ; which of the two ? 
I can only know by revelation ; but in either case if 
God has created man for a certain end, He must 
also have provided the means necessary for man to 
reach that end. The means must correspond to the 
end: if the end is natural it is attained by natural 
means ; if it is supernatural, by supernatural means. 
Now, we are taught by revelation that God has cre- 
ated man for a supernatural end — the beatific vision 
of Himself in heaven — therefore He must also have 
provided man with supernatural means wherewith to 
reach this end, as such an end cannot be reached'by 
mere natural means. And if He has created all men 
for the same supernatural end, He has likewise placed 
within the reach of all men the supernatural means 
necessary to attain this end. 

What these supernatural means are, and how man 
may have access to them, we know from revelation. 
They are facts of history. True, unadulterated his- 
tory informs us that God sent His only-begotten Son on 
earth to teach our ignorance what we have to believe 
and do in order to reach this end, and to strengthen 
our will by His holy grace that we may be able to 
accomplish this task. "Without Me," says Christ, 



The Parable of the Net. 



141 



"you can do nothing."* History also teaches us 
that Christ, the Son of God, chose twelve Apostles, 
whom He instructed in the mysteries of His holy re- 
ligion, and to whom He gave "all power in heaven 
and in earth " to continue the work which He had 
commenced ; consequently, all the means of salva- 
tion were placed in the hands of the Apostles, to be 
communicated through them to the rest of mankind. 

But the Apostles did not remain long on earth 
after our Lord's ascension, nor was it intended they 
should ; and yet the Gospel of Jesus Christ was to be 
preached to all nations " to the consummation of the 
world." f te Not for them only did He pray that they 
might be one, but for them also who through their 
word would believe in Him" J in all future genera- 
tions ; therefore the successors of the Apostles must 
have received the same means, and power, and au- 
thority as the Apostles themselves. The Apostles 
taught and governed the faithful under the special 
guidance of the Holy Ghost — the " Spirit of truth," 
who was to abide with them for ever.$ So do their 
successors teach and govern by the direction of the 
same Holy Spirit. Christ has said, " Behold, I am 
with you all days, even to the consummation of the 
world." |j And wherever in Holy Scripture God says 
to a person, 1 am with thee, it signifies a special help 
and assistance from God to that person ; therefore 
the successors of the Apostles up to this day, and for 
all future time to the last day of the world, have 
taught and will teach and govern under the special 
guidance of the Spirit of truth and the perpetual as- 
sistance of Jesus Christ. 



* St. John xv. 5. + St. Matt, xxviii. 20. % St. John xvii. 20. 

§ Ibid. xiv. 17. | St. Matt, xxviii. 20. 



142 



The Parable of the Net. 



Now, amongst the Apostles, Jesus Christ appointed 
St. Peter to the office of chief pastor of His flock, 
and commanded him not only to feed the lambs, but 
also the sheep * — that is to say, the parents of the 
lambs ; in other words, the clergy and laity, To him 
He said : "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail 
not : and thou being once converted, confirm thy 
.brethren." f This, then, is the power and duty of 
St. Peter's successor, the Pope or Bishop of Kome. 
But how can St. Peter, once truly converted, confirm 
his brethren in their faith, if his own faith fail and is 
fallible ? Therefore the faith of St. Peter and his suc- 
cessor> the Pope, is infallible, and with his infallible 
word in faith and morals he is able to confirm his 
brethren, the bishops and other clergy, as well as the 
faithful entrusted to his care. 

Behold here a series of truths closely connected 
with each other like the net. Take away one of them, 
and you have broken the net. You have also com- 
mitted a fault in reasoning, a fault against logic, a 
fault so evident and clear that, on due examination, 
it will appear to you just as absurd as if you asserted 
that two and two make three, and not four. 

The net was "cast into the sea" of this world to 
catch and save men who, blinded by error, were 
hastening to the bottomless deep ; these are the fishes 
mentioned in the Gospel. When this net was cast 
into the sea all the fishes enclosed within it were 
caught; it is the business of the fishermen and the 
object of the net to catch fishes and to "bring into 
captivity every created understanding unto the obe- 
dience of Christ." J Once they are within that net 
and the truths of religion sufficiently explained to 

* St. John xxi. 15, 17. t St. Luke xxii. 32. % 2 Cor. x. 5. 



The Parable of the Net, 



143 



them, they cannot escape without breaking the net — 
that is, without acting against the highest reason and 
authority. The net is cast into the sea not for the 
purpose of destroying or tormenting the fishes that 
enter it, but to rescue and bring them to Jesus Christ, 
who is in the bark of Peter, ready to save and protect 
them from the monsters of the deep. 

Behold in the miraculous draught of fishes a most 
beautiful representation of the true Church of Jesus 
Christ ! During almost nineteen hundred years He 
is in. the bark of Peter — the Eoman Catholic Church 
— guiding and protecting her, ever faithful to His 
promise : "Behold, I am with you all days, even to 
the consummation of the world * and if sometimes 
He seemed to sleep whilst the tempest of human revo- 
lution swept away kingdoms and empires, and, flat- 
tered by its momentary triumph, breathed destruction 
even against the bark of Peter, Peter, or his successor 
in the Apostolic See of Eome, had only to cry out, 
" Lord ! save us, we perish," f for we need at this mo- 
ment Thy special assistance; and the Lord "com- 
manded the wind and the waves, and there was a 
great calm." % After every such tempest Peter, at the 
command of Christ, launches again into the deep and 
lets down his net for a draught, enclosing a multitude 
of new fishes. There is no better time for catching 
fish than after a tempest. So, in like manner, if you 
read the history of the Eoman Catholic Church, you 
will see that after every outburst of persecution or 
heresy she acquired new possessions, made new con- 
quests, and gained more souls to the kingdom of 
Christ. 

* St. Matt, xxviii. 20. t Ibid. viii. 25. X rb. viii. 26. 



144 



The Parable of the Net. 



CHAPTER II. 

AS ALL THE FISHES WITHIN THE NET WERE NOT 
GOOD, SO IN THE SAME MANNER MANY OF THOSE 
WHO PROFESS THE CATHOLIC FAITH WILL BE 
REJECTED ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT FOR NOT 
LIVING ACCORDING TO THE TEACHING OF THE 
CHURCH. 

" The net cast into the sea gathered together of all kind of 
fishes : which, when it was filled, they drew out, and sitting 
by the shore, they chose out the good into vessels, but the bad 
they cast forth." — St. Matt. xiii. 47, 48. 

THE text just quoted settles the question, so much 
discussed among the sects, as to who belongs to 
the true Church. Evidently all those within the 
net, and not those who would not be caught under 
any consideration, but are satisfied to roam outside 
at liberty. As to those within the net, they are all 
Tcinds, great and small, thick and thin, good and bad 
fishes. It was always the capital error of every 
founder of a sect that he would have no bad fishes in 
the net — no bad men in the Church. Every heresi- 
arch, no matter how bad or corrupt in his own 
morals, always pretended to be a good fish, even bet- 
ter than the others in the net, and when he broke 
through the net to draiv disciples after Mm * he 
pointed out the bad fishes, and made others believe 
that all in the net were as bad as these, and even 
worse, and that they were bound in duty to separate 
from them at once, and not wait for that last terrible 
day, when the net shall be " drawn out, and the wick- 
ed separated from among the just." f 

With them the Church of Jesus Christ was not an 



* Acts xx. 30. 



t St. Matt. xiii. 49. 



TJie Parable of the Net. 



145 



institution for the conversion of sinners and the 
perfection and sanctification of the faithful ; they 
wanted a church of saints, and considered themselves 
the elect of God, whilst they condemned as reprobates 
those among the faithful who transgressed the law, 
thus anticipating the final sentence which the Great 
Judge shall pronounce when the net is drawn to 
shore. These men who broke away from the Church 
in their mistaken zeal were far more guilty than the 
bad fishes in the net whose conduct scandalized 
them. A Catholic who does not live up to the faith 
he professes, whether he belong to the clergy or 
laity, is always a bad fish ; yet as long as he remains 
in the net and does not break through it altogether — 
in other words, as long as he remains in the Church 
and does not renounce his faith — he is tolerated and 
has a chance to be converted and become a good fish ; 
whereas if he break through the net by renouncing 
his faith and rejecting the authority of the Church, 
to set up for himself or follow other leaders than 
Christ and the Apostles who with Peter draw the 
net to the heavenly shore, he casts off the dominion 
Christ has over him, and has as little chance to be 
chosen by Him and placed in the vessels of election as 
the fishes that broke the net and escaped into the 
deep when St. Peter was favored with the miracu- 
lous draught. 

Nor will it avail to salvation to follow the net in 
small companies, and spend one's life in peeping 
through its meshes, as those do who "search the 
Scriptures, thinking in them to have eternal life," 
without any desire to find the truth or embrace it, 
though their guide, the holy Scripture, clearly points 
out to them the Church of the living God. 



146 



The Parable of the Net. 



It is, then, necessary to be in the net which conveys 
to the bark of Peter, where Jesus Christ presides, 
teaching all nations. But, alas ! prejudice and pas- 
sion prevent the sects from seeing their danger out- 
side the net; and fancying they follow the pure 
Gospel of Jesus Christ, they sink back into the deep 
of error as soon as they perceive that the pure, un- 
adulterated text of Scripture would lead them to the 
Church presided over by St. Peter and his successor, 
the Pope. They look for reasons and excuses to 
remain outside rather than embrace the truth which 
their good sense clearly points out ; they prefer to 
be devoured by the monstrous illusions which the 
prince of the deep has invented and set in vogue 
to catch souls, rather than be caught in the net of 
Peter and his successors and conveyed to Jesus 
Christ in the bark — the Holy Eoman Catholic 
Church, to which He has said, " Behold, I am with 
you always until the consummation of the world." 
■ In the meantime the work of drawing the net 
through the sea of this world goes on steadfastly. If 
the net break now and again it is not the good but 
the bad fish that break it ; they are not willing to 
follow the draught, they disobey and separate them- 
selves from the Church, and we can point out to 
them the exact spot where they slipped through the 
net. Let them read. the Gospel of St. Matthew (xviii. 
17) : " And if he will not hear the Church, let him be 
to thee as a heathen and a publican." If they heard 
the Church and obeyed it, as Christ commanded, they 
would always remain in the Church, within the net ; 
but when they refuse to hear the Church, no matter 
what good fishes they fancy themselves to be, they 
break through the command of Christ which confines 



TJie Parable of the Net. 



147 



them within the Church, and they are no better than 
the heathen and publican, who were never in the 
net, never converted to Christianity; they plunge 
into the deep of error, and we pity their much-boasted 
false liberty of thinking and judging for themselves. 

When the net is broken by some rebellious child 
of the Catholic Church it is easily mended by the 
thread of apostolical tradition, which is the living 
" faith handed down to the saints," and engrafted on 
the hearts of the faithful, pastors and laity, much 
better and in a more lasting way than on parchment 
or marble; whilst the oecumenical councils, presided 
over and approved, by the successors of St. Peter, can 
say with as much truth as the first general council of 
the Apostles, held at Jerusalem and presided over by 
St. Peter in person: "It hath seemed good to the 
Holy Ghost and to us," etc.* The same Holy Ghost, 
the same Spirit of truth, abides with them for ever. 

The patience and charity which the Catholic 
Church exercises towards the bad fishes in her net 
are most remarkable. So long as the least hope of 
their amendment remains she tolerates them, even as 
the Good Shepherd Himself, who left the ninety -nine 
sheep in the desert to go after one that strayed from 
His gentle care. It is only when she has tried every 
means to win the erring one, and when his presence 
is scandalous beyond endurance and his obstinate 
perversity past recovery, that she consents to sepa- 
rate him from her communion, and casts him into 
the deep to join those who refused to be caught. 
What a contrast, if compared with the harshness and 
rigor of the sects, especially those of the Calvinistic 
school, that turn out of their church ministers and 

♦Acts xv. 28. 



148 



The Parable of the Net. 



people, sometimes, for the most trivial reasons ! St. 
Augustine says : "Every sinner is permitted to live 
either that he may be converted or that the just man 
may be exercised through him " in all virtues. If 
sinners were not tolerated in the Church of Jesus 
Christ there would be little chance to practise pa- 
tience, forbearance, clemency, charity, forgiveness of 
injuries, zeal, love, etc. In fact, if "the just man 
falleth seven times/ 5 * and if a "man knoweth not 
whether he be worthy of love or hatred/' f there 
would not be many left in the Church of Christ on 
earth, if every sinner was excluded. The Church on 
earth is the Church militant, not triumphant ; and as 
long as the final victory is not gained over all the 
enemies of salvation, and the measure of the elect not 
completed, there will always be those who fight nobly 
and those who are cowards, who sometimes give up 
the combat for a time, are wounded, even deadly, but 
restored again to health and vigor by the grace of the 
holy sacraments and other means which the Church 
employs to re-establish in the grace of God the poor 
sinner who still remains in her communion — within 
the net. \ 

Only when the net shall be filled, and the number 

* Prov. xxiv. 16. t Eccles. ix. 1. 

X Luther himself acknowledges that the moral corruption which in his 
time prevailed even in Rome itself and elsewhere was not sufficient cause 
for a separation from the Catholic Church. He writes thus in the year 1519 
(torn, i., Jen., fol. 166b) : "Ob es leyder zu Rom also steht, dasz wohl 
besser tiichte, so ist doch die und kein Ursach zu grosz oder werden mag, 
dasz man sich von derselben Kirchen reissen oder scheiden solle. 1 ' "Der 
Einigkeit sollen wir in acht nehmen und bei leib nicht widerstreben Pabst- 
lichen Gebotten." . . . "Dem Romischen Stuhl soli man in alien 
Dingen folgen." (Although unfortunately matters are not as they should 
be in Rome, yet there is not, nor can be, any cause so great as to justify a 
separation from that Church. . . . We ought to guard unity carefully, 
and by no means resist the papal commands. And again, fol. 167a : We 
ought to follow the Roman See in all things.) 



The Parable of the Net. 



149 



of the elect preordained by God to enjoy eternal hap- 
piness shall be complete, then will it be drawn out : 
" And sitting by the shore they chose out the good 
into vessels, but the bad they cast forth." Our Sa- 
viour Himself explains this text : "So shall it be at 
the end of the world. The angels shall go out to 
separate the wicked from among the just."* Ee- 
mark here that the commencement will be made 
with the good and bad fishes in the net — that is to 
say, those who have been not only good men, but 
also good, practical Christians in the true Church of 
Christ, shall be chosen into vessels of divine election, 
whilst the bad Christians, those members of the true 
Church who were unfaithful to their holy calling and 
committed sin like the heathen and publican, shall 
be cast forth as those who never entered the Church 
of the living God, but lived and died in the sea of 
sin and unbelief. "Their portion shall be with the 
unbelievers." f Yes, they "shall cast them into the 
furnace of fire ; there shall be weeping and gnashing 
of teeth." J 

Were this parable only meant for those in the net, 
whether they be good or bad fishes, our explanation 
would not be condemned ; but it also points out too 
clearly the unfortunate lot of those who refuse to be 
caught in the net — in other words, all those who re- 
fuse to believe " the Church of the living God, the 
pillar and ground of truth," § out of which there is 
no salvation. This apparently severe doctrine of the 
Catholic Church is loudly censured by those whose 
disadvantage is concerned. But let them remember 
that it is not the Church but her Divine Founder 
who has said : " He that believeth not shall be con- 

* St. Matt. xiii. 49. t St. Luke xii. 46. $ St. Matt. xiii. 50. § Tim. iii. 15. 



150 



Tlie Parable of the Net. 



demned." * She does not invent or shape her dog- 
mas according to human fancy, but proposes them as 
she received them from Jesus Christ Himself, as 
times and circumstances may require. She cannot 
betray the trust confided to her, nor listen to the ad- 
vice of those who speak as the revolting Jews of old: 
'"'"Who say to the seers : See not : and to them that 
behold : Behold not for us those things. . . . Speak 
unto us pleasant things, see errors for us." f For 
"thus saith the Lord God: Woe to them that sew 
cushions under every elbow, and make pillows for 
the heads of persons of every age. to catch souls/' J 
"Why lull to sleep troubled consciences on cushions 
and pillows of new-fangled systems and theories that 
are founded on error, and deliver those who rest on 
them to eternal death ? The Lord God has said : 
" Behold I declare against your cushions, wherewith 
you catch flying souls, . . . and I will tear your 
pillows.'' § 

If mankind could be saved outside of the Church 
just as well as in it, why was the Church of Jesus 
Christ established ? If there are good fishes outside 
of the net that are to be chosen into the vessels of 
divine election as well as those that have been good 
within it, for what purpose was the net cast into the 
sea ? And if heaven can be attained on easier terms 
outside of the Church than within it, then the work 
of Jesus Christ and of His Apostles was altogether 
unnecessary, and the promises of Him whose word 
•'•'shall not pass away" || false and worthless. From 
this it is evident that they who condemn this doc- 
trine of the Church condemn the doctrine of Christ ; 



* St. !Mark vi. 1G. x Is. xxx. 10. % Ezech. xiii. 18. 

§ Tbid. 20, 21. | St. Matt. xxiv. 35. 



The Parable of the Net. 



151 



and to do this is to deny alike His holiness, His vera- 
city, and His divinity. Hence, is it not an infinitely 
great act of charity to arouse souls that are lulled 
asleep on such cushions and pillows, by warning them 
in time of the clanger to which they are exposed if they 
remain voluntarily outside the pale of salvation ? 

And now what can Protestantism apply in this 
parable to itself, except the part we have assigned it 
of bad fishes that broke through the net and went 
into the deep to take part with the unbelievers ? If 
it can be called a net — being only a negation — it is as 
many nets as there are sects in it ; and even that would 
be saying too much for its unity, every man being 
free to form his own creed and fasten it on others, if 
he chooses. They seem rather a multitude of fisher- 
men, each one fishing with his own hook and line ; 
for every sect has its own peculiar doctrine by which 
it distinguishes itself from the others, and tries to 
catch souls on its own hook, 

It is true that the net, cast into the sea and drawn 
by strong hands, works both ways : as it includes all 
sorts of fishes caught within, so it excludes the mul- 
titude that refuse to be caught, as also those who 
were in for some time, but broke through and follow 
the net in small companies, believing, forsooth, that 
they are safe within it, when, in fact, they are out 
of it in the deep. Such as fall away in this man- 
ner from the Church of Jesus Christ anticipate, as 
it were, by their own free choice that last and final 
separation which will take place on the awful day of 
general judgment. For "so shall it be at the end of 
the world. The angels shall go out, and shall sepa- 
rate the wicked from among the just, and shall cast 
them, into the furnace of fire: where there shall be 



152 



The Parable of the Net. 



weeping and gnashing of teeth. "* And not only 
shall all those be rejected who never entered the net, 
or who, being once in, broke through to enjoy the 
fatal liberty of the deep ; but also those bad fishes 
found in the net shall be cast out — that is to say, all 
those who, though members of the true Church of 
Jesus Christ and professing the Catholic faith, neg- 
lected to practise what it enjoined. Thus the word 
of the Lord is verified : " Many are called but few 
are chosen." f 

* St. Matt. xSL 49, 50. t Ibid. xx. 16. 



SECTION Tin. 



THE PARABLE OF THE SCRIBE. 



Our Divine Saviour concludes the series of parables in St. 
Matt. xiii. with the question: " Have you understood all these 
things ? They say to Him : Yes. He said unto them : There- 
fore every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like 
to a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his 
treasure new things and old. v 



CHAPTER I. 

OUTSIDE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH THERE CAN BE NO 
PROPER UNDERSTANDING OP THE DOCTRINE OP 
CHRIST. 

rpHERE can be no doubt that Jesus Christ was most 
J- anxious that His disciples should not only know 
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, bat also 
understand their proper meaning ; although in them- 
selves, being of a supernatural order, they are mys- 
teries surpassing the comprehension of every human 
understanding. In fact, He left nothing undone to 
secure to them the full possession of His divine reve- 
lation in its true sense and meaning. He instructed 
them in parables and without parables ; if any of these 
was obscure to them, or in any way liable to be misap- 
plied or misunderstood, He Himself explained it to 

153 



154 



The Parable of the Scribe. 



them. And before He went to the Father He pro- 
mised, and afterwards sent, the Holy Ghost, " the 
Spirit of truth, that He should abide with them for 
ever, to teach them all truth and bring to their minds 
all things whatsoever He hath commanded them."* 
Finally, when He gave them the command to "go 
into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every 
creature," He promised : " Behold, I am with you all 
days, even to the consummation of the world." f 

Now, the words, "I am with you," wherever they 
are applied by God to man in holy Scripture, signify 
the special help and assistance of Almighty God to 
that individual whom He has chosen to accomplish 
an important work. But to what would all these pro- 
mises amount, if, after giving His divine word to 
mankind, Jesus Christ left every man free to form his 
own opinion about its real meaning and to put his 
own construction on it, according as his talents or 
ignorance, his science or prejudice, his piety or pas- 
sion might prompt him ? Or in what way would the 
human race be better off after the coming of Christ 
than before it ? Before the coming of Christ human 
reason, having lost the primitive revelation given to 
mankind, left to its own resources, could not establish 
with certitude all the truths relating to man's des- 
tiny here or hereafter. "With the exception of the 
very primary principles of morality, everything was 
involved in doubt. Its most enlightened philosophers 
presented their tenets merely as opinions, in a doubt- 
ful manner ; not one of them dared to say, " Amen, 
amen, I say to you." Now, if, after the word of 
God was revealed to man, every one was permitted to 
have his own opinion about it, mankind would be in 

* St. John xiv. 26. t St. Matt, xxviii. 20. 



Tlie Parable of the Scribe. 



155 



no better position than before ; for opinion does not 
exclude doubt, the only difference being that before 
Christ men doubted about truths belonging to the 
natural, moral order ; after Christ they would be 
doomed to doubt about supernatural, revealed truths, 
as well as about many belonging to the natural order. 

To secure the benefits of the Gospel in its true 
meaning, with all the means of grace, for future gen- 
erations, our Lord established in His Church a body 
of teachers, priests of the new testament and " dis- 
pensers of the mysteries of God." As they were to 
continue the work of the salvation of souls which He 
had commenced, so He furnished them with the 
same powers which He received from His heavenly 
Father for that purpose ; He also invested them with 
His own authority : " He that heareth you heareth 
Me."* "All power is given to Me in heaven and 
in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations," f 
etc. So well were they to be guided in all truth by 
the Spirit of truth, the Holy Ghost abiding with 
them for ever, and by His own continual presence, 
that His Gospel would be preached in all its purity 
till the end of time, and not "one iota," not "one 
tittle," J omitted or forgotten. So that men have 
only to hear and obey the teachers and pastors of 
that Church governed by the Pope, the Vicar of 
Jesus Christ and successor of St. Peter (for whom 
Christ prayed especially, "that his faith fail not," and 
who is thus enabled to " confirm his brethren " in 
the faith), in order to obtain, even in this nineteenth 
century, as pure a knowledge of the teachings of 
Jesus Christ and as certain means of salvation as if 
they lived in the days of His sojourn on earth and 

* St. Luke x. 16. t St. Matt, xxiii. 18. % Ibid. xxiv. 14, v. 18. 



156 



The Parable of the Scribe* 



had access to His divine person ; and if questioned 
by our Blessed Lord, " Have you understood all 
these things?" they could answer, "Yes," with as 
much truth and certainty as the Apostles.* 

" He said unto them : Therefore every scribe 
instructed in the kingdom of heaven," etc. The 
law of Moses being the law of Church and state 
among the Jews, many of them made the study of 
this law their profession. Hence we read in the 
Gospel, "A certain lawyer stood up," "and one of 
them, a doctor of the law, asked Him, tempting 
Him." f Numbers of these professors were employ- 
ed in various offices about the temple, as clerks, etc., 
and were called scribes. The majority of these, through 
fear of losing their posts of emolument by being su- 
perseded, like the Jewish priesthood, if Christ gained 
the ascendency, became His sworn enemies and oppos- 
ed Him in every possible way ; whereas the love of 
truth should have induced them to become His fol- 
lowers and defenders. Hence the distinction which 
our Lord makes: not "every scribe" whatsoever, 
but " every scribe instructed in the kingdom of hea- 
ven is like to a man," etc. For there are scribes, 
and lawyers, and doctors of the law who indeed bear 
titles of high degree in the science of law and divin- 
ity, but are as ignorant of the laws of God and the 
kingdom of heaven, His holy Church, as the heathens 
who never knew Christ. This is not only true of the 
graduates of the ancient law and divinity, but like- 
wise of many a scribe, lawyer, and doctor of divinity 
under the new law who has received his titles of 
honor, not "in the kingdom of heaven" (the true 
Church), but outside of it. Therefore it is no cal- 

* See note to page 74. t St. Luke x. 25 ; St. Matt. xxii. 35. 



The Parable of the Scribe. 



157 



umny to say that every Catholic divine who has had 
occasion to converse with sectarian ministers, or to 
instruct them previous to their reception into the 
Catholic Church, is constrained to testify that, no 
matter how well learned they are in every branch of 
human science, they are often fearfully ignorant of the 
science of sciences — the true religion of Jesus Christ. 
How many a reverend editor would change the tone 
of his violent articles against Eomanism, if he was 
properly instructed iisr the kingdom of heaven ! And 
many a reverend D.D. would never appear as the 
author of a book against popery, had he not drawn 
his information from poisonous fountains which the 
father of lies has opened outside the true fold of 
Christ for the destruction of souls. The most illite- 
rate Catholic, " instructed in the kingdom of hea- 
ven," will pity their ignorance and say with the 
Saviour : " They are blind and leaders of the blind." * 
And now, if " every scribe instructed in the kingdom 
of heaven is like to a man that is a householder," 
then every scribe that is not instructed in the king- 
dom of heaven must be a house destroyer. For the 
household of God is His holy Church on earth, and 
Christ has said : " He that is not with Me is against 
Me ; and he that gathereth not with Me, scattereth."f 
Now, if Christ is with His Church " all days, even 
to the consummation of the world," how can he be 
with Christ who is out of the Church ? Or how can 
he, even for a moment, believe that he gathereth 
with Christ when he protests against the Church 
established by Christ, and seeks to " draw disciples 
after him " J away from the true Church, and, there- 
fore, away from Christ ? 

* St. Matt. xv. 14. t St. Luke xi. 23. % Acts xx. 30. 



158 The Parable of the Scribe* 



Truly is every man " instructed in the kingdom 
of heaven" like a householder — he is conservative ; 
the more he knows and learns about the Catholic 
Church, the more he loves and cherishes it, the 
more he is pleased and charmed with all its de- 
tails, and the greater is his eagerness to employ 
his talents and learning in upholding and defend- 
ing whatever he knows belongs to the household 
of G-od; whereas he who is not "instructed in 
the kingdom of heaven" has no divine faith, but 
only human opinions liable to vary every day, and 
is, in the true sense of the word, that " sensual 
man" spoken of by St. Paul.* Judging all things 
by the testimony of his senses, he "perceiveth not 
these things that are of the Spirit of God : for it 
is foolishness to him, and he cannot understand : 
because it is spiritually examined. " f 'No wonder 
that he rejects what his mind considers foolish- 
ness, and opposes to the conservatism of the Ca- 
tholics a species of radicalism which ends in re- 
jecting every supernatural truth of religion and 
dragging it down to the level of a philosophical 
opinion, like the teaching of a Confucius, a Plato, 
a Socrates, a Hegel, or a Strauss. Look at the 
workings of Protestantism, not only in Germany, 
where it originated, but in this country, where it 
has full liberty to exert itself. The more that 
learning and science flourish, the more of its vo- 
taries return to the bosom of the Catholic Church, 
the household of God, or pass to the ranks of infi- 
dels or unbelievers who discard all religion. Thus, 
when they are educated and intelligent, in spite 
of their prejudices, they are forced to acknowledge 

* 1 Cor. ii. 14. t "Ibid. 



The Parable of the Scribe. 



159 



that, in order to be consistent, they must believe 
all or reject all — be Catholics or infidels. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHUECH PUTS NO BARRIER 
TO THE HUMAN INTELLECT, AND WE CAN ACQUIRE 

\ THE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR HOLY FAITH WITHOUT 
THE AID OF HUMAN LEARNING. 

It THHE scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven 
is like to a man that is a householder, who 
bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and 
old." It is a favorite theme of sectarian preachers, 
especially when they take charge of a new congre- 
gation, to prove their orthodoxy by describing Ro- 
man Catholics as priest-ridden people, who are kept 
in darkness and ignorance, without liberty to have 
their own thoughts or opinions. Now, as God re- 
quires from man an implicit faith* in all and every- 
thing He has revealed for the salvation of the hu- 
man race, and established His Church to be the 
guardian and teacher of these truths, so this 
Church, which cannot be unfaithful to her trust, 
requires a firm and sincere belief in every one of 
her doctrines. Nor can an intelligent mind dis- 
cover anything unreasonable in this ; for these 
doctrines are not of her own fabrication, but the 
sacred deposit of "-faith, handed down to the 
saints." She is the organ of the Holy Spirit, 
and therefore cannot vary ; the same yesterday, to- 
day, and for ever. For this she is charged by her 
adversaries with placing a bar before the human 
intellect, hemming in, as it were, the progress of 



160 



The Parable of the Scribe. 



the human mind (!), in spite of the works, 
amounting to thousands of volumes, with which 
her divines (the scribes instructed in the kingdom 
of heaven) in every century enrich her libraries. 
Who will not say that such an accusation is most 
unjust, and that nothing but malice and the greatest 
ignorance is capable of such an assertion ? 

The more excellent is the teacher the greater is 
my confidence in his abilities, and the more reason I 
have to expect he will teach me what other teachers 
cannot. A distinguished professor of a university 
is supposed to know more than an ordinary country 
schoolmaster. Hence, if God Himself sends His 
only-begotten Son into the world to teach mankind 
the most necessary science — the science of salva- 
tion — I have reason to believe that He will teach 
me what no one but a God could teach. And 
although He teaches me divine things — truths of 
the highest order, which are perfect mysteries to 
me, and which the infinite intellect of God alone 
can understand — still I am infinitely indebted to 
Him for this knowledge ; the more so if I am con- 
vinced that my own feeble intellect had no other 
possible way to obtain this knowledge. And if this 
science which the Son of God teaches me is the 
science of salvation, if my happiness in time and 
eternity depends on my knowing and submitting 
to these truths, most humbly do I accept the word 
and will of my God, although the whole is a mys- 
tery to me, shown, as it were, "through a glass 
and in a dark manner."* Every such revealed 
truth is for me a banknote payable in eternity. 
If I firmly believe, and act according to my belief, 

* 1 Cor. xiii. 12. 



The Parable of the Scribe. 



1G1 



I am sure to win the prize of a blessed eternity. 
I may be ignorant of banking and money exchange, 
but it is sufficient for me to know that this bill 
is worth five dollars, that one ten, and this other 
a hundred. You w r ould certainly laugh at the 
folly of a man who would refuse to accept a thou- 
sand-dollar bill for the simple reason that he did 
not understand how that piece of paper was equal 
to a thousand dollars in gold. All the w T orks of 
a clock or a machine are based on mathematics ; 
nevertheless how many excellent clock-makers and 
machinists are there in our country whenever studied 
mathematics, and would consider it a loss of time 
if they were obliged to study them now before con- 
tinuing their trade ! 

Behold ! such is the condition of those so-called 
ignorant and benighted Catholics who believe what 
they cannot understand, and are, in consequence, 
held up as objects of pity and commiseration be- 
fore " enlightened " congregations. These Catho- 
lics, even if not able to read or write, know wdiat 
to believe and do in order to save their souls. They 
believe the priest, the priest teaches them w 7 hat the 
Church teaches, and the Church teaches what Jesus 
Christ and His holy Apostles taught. Thus keeping 
the old faith, and, by the aid of God's grace, adding 
new merits every day to the treasure already ac- 
quired, they are, even if destitute of secular learn- 
ing, well versed in heavenly science, and far more 
like " a man who is a householder, who bringeth 
forth out of his treasure new things and old/' than 
the learned sectarian divine who, with the title of 
Doctor of Divinity to his name, has nothing to rely 
upon for the proper meaning of the word of God 



162 



The Parable of the Scribe. 



but his own or other men's opinion ; who search- 
eth the Scriptures, thinking thereby to find life, and 
" is tossed to and fro and carried about with every 
wind of doctrine"*; " ever learning and never at- 
taining to the knowledge of the truth " ; f err- 
ing and driving into error. Every day he bringeth 
forth from his treasure something new or startling, 
but rejects the old, showing thereby that lie is not 
the scribe represented by our Lord in the parable — 
"a scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven." 
If, then, the Catholic Church teaches the rude and 
ignorant what they have to believe and do in order 
to be saved, how does she hinder their intellectual 
progress ? Would they be more intelligent if not 
instructed in these truths ? But, you say, the same 
obligation of belief and submission to the Church is 
also placed as a bar before the minds of the educated 
classes ; it prevents them from seeing any farther 
than the Church permits them to see. 

I answer : The obligation to believe what God says 
is a natural duty, it is a natural law, dictated by the 
common sense of reason which the Creator has de- 
posited in every human soul. The Church only en- 
forces this law, which existed before she herself ex- 
isted, because from all eternity it was a truth that 
the creature is bound to believe the word of the Cre- 
ator. If the Church allows no denial, no doubt, no 
alteration or misconstruction of any of her dogmas, 
it is because the veracity of the Son of God, who has 
revealed these truths, is attacked when any of His 
doctrines is denied or doubted. These dogmas are so 
many fixed stars in the firmament of holy Church. 
They cannot be reached by the perversity and f rivol- 

* Eph. iv. 14. t 2 Tim. iii. 7. 



The Parable of the Scribe. 



163 



ity of man. He may close his eyes against them and 
deny their existence ; he may misrepresent them and 
look at them through glasses stained the color of every 
prejudice ; but he cannot do away with them alto- 
gether, nor change in any way their natural bright- 
ness and brilliancy. Like the stars that deck the 
vault of heaven, they are to give light, not to receive 
light from human reason. They are the word of 
God, and what God says is truth, that cannot be 
made untruth. The mind that receives truth is en- 
lightened thereby ; the mind that denies or misre- 
presents it is darkened and corrupted. 

Besides, every dogma of faith is to the Catholic 
cultivated mind not only a new increase of know- 
ledge, but also an incontrovertible principle from 
which it is able to draw conclusions and derive other 
truths. They present an endless field for investi- 
gation, so that the beloved Apostle St. John could 
write at the end of his Gospel, without fear of exag- 
geration : " But thfere are also many other things 
which Jesus did : which if they were written every 
one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to 
contain the books that should be written." * 

The Catholic Church, by enforcing firm belief in 
her dogmas — which are not her inventions, but were 
given by Jesus Christ — places them as a bar before 
the human mind to prevent it from going astray and 
to attach it to the truth ; but it does not prevent 
the mind from exercising its functions when it has 
secured the treasure of divine truth, and a " scribe 
thus instructed in the kingdom of heaven is truly 
like a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth 
out of his treasure new things and old." He may 

* St. John xxi. 25. 



164 



The Parable of the Scribe. 



bring forth new illustrations, new arguments and 
proofs ; he may show new applications of the same 
truths, according to times and circumstances ; he may 
show new links which connect the mysteries of reli- 
gion with each other or with the natural sciences — 
as there can be no discord between the true faith 
and true science ; God, being the author of both, 
cannot contradict Himself and teach something by 
revelation as true which He teaches by the true 
light of reason as false. In all these cases the 
householder " brings forth from his treasure new 
things and old." They are new inasmuch as they 
are the result of new investigations ; and old because 
they are contained in the old articles of faith and 
doctrine as legitimate deductions from their old 
principles. 

And now, if a single individual, a scribe instruct- 
ed in the kingdom of heaven, be such a householder, 
how much more the holy Church of Jesus Christ, 
headed by the successor of St. Peter ! Long before 
our Saviour had actually given to St. Peter the 
supreme charge of His Church He asked him : 
"Who, thinkest thou, is that faithful and wise 
steward whom the Lord hath set over His family, to 
give them their measure of wheat in due season ?" * 
Whether St. Peter surmised at that time that he 
himself was to be raised to that office, as the question 
addressed to him in preference to the other Apostles 
insinuated, we will not discuss at present. So much, 
however, was certain : that one was to be set over the 
whole household of the Lord by the Lord Himself. 
In the present parable he is called "a man that is a 
householder" ; again he is called "the faithful and 

* St. Luke xii. 42. 



The Parable of the Scribe. 



165 



wise steward whom the Lord hath set over His 
family." In both cases the individual thus placed 
above all others has a treasure to dispose of accord- 
ing to the needs of times and circumstances. In the 
parable he is described as one "instructed in the 
kingdom of heaven"; therefore he possesses full 
knowledge of the teaching and government of the 
true Church of God. In the text above quoted he is 
a "faithful and wise steward "—faithful to his trust, 
wise in his government and dispensation of the goods 
entrusted to his care. All this perfectly agrees with 
what the Lord had said to St. Peter: "I have pray- 
ed for thee that thy faith fail not, and thou once con- 
verted confirm thy brethren." "Peed My lambs, 
feed My sheep " (or, in the literal translation of the 
original Greek text: "Be a shepherd of My lambs, 
be a shepherd of My sheep"). Thus we see that 
Christ conferred on St. Peter and his successors, 1st, 
the prerogative of unerring faith, comprising all the 
doctrines of Jesus Christ without alteration ("thy 
faith fail not") ; 2d, the prerogative of the fulness 
of power in the dispensation of the means of grace 
("their measure of wheat") — wheat is nourishment 
for the body ; the nourishment of the soul is divine 
grace ("life everlasting"); 3d, the prerogative of 
supreme power of government over clergy and laity 
("feed My lambs, feed My sheep "). These preroga- 
tives w T ere to be exercised by St. Peter and his suc- 
cessors, not all at once and everywhere indiscrimi- 
nately, but according to times and circumstances, as 
the good of the Church and the wants of the faith- 
ful required ("to give them their measure of wheat in 
due season "). But when or wherever they exercised 
them they acted the part of the " householder bring- 



166 



The Parable of the Scribe. 



ing forth out of his treasure new things and old." 
They are new because newly enacted, declared, de- 
fined ; they are old because they contain no new 
revelation or any assumption of power never granted 
by Christ, but simply old truths under new forms, 
the old power exercised under new circumstances, 
etc. 

The Church of Christ, after existing almost nine- 
teen hundred years, had as good a right to meet in 
council in the Vatican at Eome, under the presidency 
of Pius IX., the late successor of St. Peter, as it had 
in the first century of its existence, when St. Peter 
presided in person, at the Council of Jerusalem. 
Now, as then, it has a right to decide which of the 
prevailing opinions is in conformity with the teaching 
of Jesus Christ and belongs to the sacred deposit of 
faith "handed down to the saints/' * and which is 
against it j and it can say with as much truth as the 
Apostles : "It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost 
and to us." f It is true the Holy Ghost makes no 
new revelation to the Church, nor does He teach her 
anything which Jesus Christ has not taught her 
before; on the contrary, our Saviour says : " He shall 
glorify Me : because He shall receive of Mine, and 
shall show it to you." J Hence the dogmatic defini- 
tions of the popes and general councils of the Church 
are not new revelations, but a new definition, un- 
der the guidance of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of 
truth, that such a doctrine belongs to the sacred 
deposit of faith preached by Jesus Christ, and conse- 
quently is received and approved of by the Church, or 
that another is opposed to it, and therefore is reject- 
ed and condemned. That same doctrine belonged to 

* Jude i. 3. t Acts xv. 28. $ St. John xvi. 14. 



The Parable of the Scribe. 



107 



the Church or was opposed to it from the first day 
when the law of Christ was promulgated. He Him- 
self revealed the articles of faith, but left to His 
Church, presided over by St. Peter and his successors, 
"whose faith fails not," to decide what was in accor- 
dance with His teaching when, in the course of 
time, errors were started that threatened to subvert 
it. Thus the Church, as a good '* householder, bring- 
eth forth out of her treasures new things and old/' 

And here I cannot pass over in silence the ex- 
treme bad faith of the first Eeformers who origi- 
nated Protestantism, and those who copied after 
them. In order to justify their revolt against the 
authority of the spouse of Jesus Christ, the holy 
Catholic Church, they were bound to prove that the 
Church was wrong ; and had they succeeded in doing 
so, which they could not, even that would have been 
no guarantee that they themselves were right. Many 
of those who joined in their rebellion against the 
Church left them also and convicted them of error 
afterwards. Still they persist in maintaining that 
the Catholic Church, although established by Jesus 
Christ and His Apostles, fell into error, and from a 
mistress of truth became a mistress of error and 
abominations. Appealing to the testimony of holy 
Scripture as the only rule of faith, they allow history 
to speak only when they see a chance of distorting 
its facts into an argument against Catholics ; but 
if Catholics defend their faith from testimonies 
of unadulterated history, and prove that whatever 
they believe in this nineteenth century is the faith 
of the first Christians, taught by the Apostles, then 
it is the Bible — the Bible alone, without note or 
comment — that has to decide the matter, and the 



168 



The Parable of the Scribe. 



testimony of history is accounted for nothing. 
Moreover, wherever there is a text in the Bible 
that has reference to matters controverted between 
Catholics and Protestants, and that favors Catho- 
licity in any way, they would not dare to deny 
that Christ or His Apostles said or did so, but 
they insist He did not mean it, but meant some- 
thing else ; or they pass it over altogether and take 
no notice of it, as if it were no concern of theirs. 
For example, Christ said to St. Peter : " Thou art 
Peter (a rock), and upon this rock I will build My 
Church/' They say He did not mean Peter, but 
something else — his confession of faith. Christ says: 
" To thee I will give the keys of the kingdom of 
heaveti. " They say He did not mean Peter, but 
something else — the whole Church. Christ says : 
" This is My Body, this is My Blood/' They say 
He did not mean that, but something else — bread 
and wine. All the powers granted by Jesus Christ, 
in an unlimited degree, to St. Peter and the Apos- 
tles, no matter what they concern, they confine to 
the power of preaching and baptizing. The keys 
of the kingdom of heaven granted to Peter is the 
power of preaching the G-ospel ; the power of bind- 
ing and loosing is the power of preaching ; the 
power to forgive or retain sin is the power of 
preaching ; the power of anointing the sick with oil 
in the name of the Lord is the power of preaching ; 
the power of ruling the Church of God is the power 
of preaching; the power to feed the lambs and the 
sheep is the same power of preaching. 

If Catholics appeal to history, and prove from the 
testimony of the earliest writers of the Church that 
the first Christians believed in other powers granted 



The Parable of the Scribe. 



169 



by Christ besides that of preaching the Gospel, see 
in what maimer they are met on historical ground. 
If a Father of the Church mentions the holy water in 
use among the first Christians they say it was he 
himself who invented it. If the Bishop of Eome de- 
cided matters of dispute between other bishops they 
will have it that he usurped power oyer them. If he 
convoked general councils, presided over them by his 
legates, reserved to himself the ultimate approbation, 
he usurped powers and extended his ambitioia. If 
one speaks of the seven sacraments in the Church 
they will have it that the pope has invented five of 
them, as the Eeformers preach only two. If the 
council orders the faithful to confess their sins to the 
priest at least once a year, the pope presiding over 
that council is declared the author of auricular con- 
fession, etc. If a council define a dogma as belong- 
ing to the faith, it is charged with having originated 
it and with having added to the doctrine of Christ. 
If popes or bishops exercise their jurisdiction and 
pass laws obligatory on all the faithful, crowned 
heads not excepted if they are Catholics, then the 
Church usurps power over the state and tries to tyran- 
nize over nations, etc.* All the scandals that have 

* It is remarkable how faithfully Lnther acknowledged the authority of 
the chief householder of the Church of God, the successor of St. Peter, 
before he was condemned by the Holy See, and what he thought of those 
who opposed that authority. In his " protestation " at the commencement 
of his works (torn, i., Jen., fol. 12a) he writes as follows : " Weil dieses ein 
Theologische Disputation ist, auf dasz ich etlicher Hertzen zu Frieden 
stelle, die sich vielleicht am blossen Text der Schrif ten von Ablasz geargert 
haben, will ich von neuem wiederholen die Protestation, welche in hohen 
Schulen der Branch ist. So protestire oder bezeuge ich, dasz ich gar nichts 
sagen oder halten will, es seye den aus, ojfer in der heiligen Schrifft erstlich, 
darnach in den heiligen Vattern der Kirchen gegriindet : von dem Eomi- 
schen Stnhl angenommen und bishero gehalten, und was in Pabstlichen 
Rechten und Decretal en ist, und noch mit der Zeit seyen kan, etc. , etc. Durch, 



170 



The Parable of the Scribe. 



taken place or have been invented by personal ene- 
mies of popes, bishops, and priests, are carefully 
gathered and preserved as historical facts, while their 
good ai^d holy actions are attributed to hypocrisy, 
their charitable deeds maligned or forgotten. Such 
are the histories with which they supply Protestants 
and endeavor to catch unwary Catholics. Truly they 

diese meine Protestation, hoffe ich, ist klar genug angezeigt, dasz ich zwar 
wohl kion kan, doch kein Ketzer will erfunden werden." (As this is a theo- 
logical dispute, in order to set at peace the minds of some persons who may 
have been scandalized by the mere text of my writings concerning the 
indulgences, I will again renew the protestation which is in use in the high 
schools. Thus I protest or testify that I will not say or hold anything 
except it be founded first on Holy Writ, secondly on the Fathers of the 
Church, an£ that it be accepted and held thus far by the holy Koman See, 
and that it be contained in the papal laws and decrees, or which may in the 
course of time be decreed, etc., etc. I hope this my protestation is clear 
enough to show that I can err but do not want to be found a heretic.) 

In another " protestation," which he prefixed to an answer on two articles 
held up to him by Cardinal Cajetan (fol. 114a) in the year 1518, he says : 
" Nichtsdestoweniger aber, weil ich ein Mensch bin, und irren kan, so hab 
ich mich untergeben, und untergib mich hiermit dem Erkenntnus und ordent- 
lichen Auspruch der heiligen Kirchen." (But, nevertheless, as I am a man 
and can err, I have submitted myself and do submit to the judgment and 
regular decision of the holy Church.) 

In his address to Cardinal Cajetan (fol. 121b) he speaks as follows : 
" Dieser Rath aber ist allein noch ubrig, dasz ich durch eine bessere Ursach 
iiberwunden werde ; welche ist (so ichs anderst wiirdig ware) die Stimme 
der Braut (der Christlichen Kirchen) dariiber horen mochte ; den es ist 
gewisz- y dasz selbige des Brautigams Christi Stimme hort. Bitte derohalben 
in aller Demuth und Unterthanigkeit Euer Hochwiirdige Vatterliche Liebe 
wollen diesen ungewissen Handel an unseren allerheiligsten Herrn Leonem 
X. gelangen lassen, auf dasz derselbe von der Kirchen erkandt, und ent- 
schlossen, entweder mit gutem Gewissen zu widerruf en, oder zu glauben mit 
Ernst befohlen werde. Den ich begehre anderst nichts, denn dasz ich der 
Kirchen Urtheil horen, ihm gehorchen, und folgen moge." (But this coun- 
sel alone remains : that I be overcome by a better cause— that is, that I hear 
the voice of the Bride (the Christian Church) on that subject, for it is certain 
that she hears the voice of the Bridegroom, Christ. I beg, therefore, in all 
humility and submission, that your reverend paternal charity may let this 
uncertain cause pass before our ^post holy lord Leo X., in order that it may 
be judged and decreed whether to retract bond Jide or to believe. For I 
demand nothing more than to hear and know the sentence of the Church, 
that I may obey and follow it.) 



The Parable of the Scribe. 



171 



are scribes not "instructed in the kingdom of 
heaven," but in the kingdom of the father of lies, 
who, like their ancestors in the time of Christ, 
brought forth out of their treasures new things only, 
not to preserve and strengthen the household of God, 
but to break it down and destroy it. Alas ! like the 
scribes of old, they know but one commandment : 

To the same Pope, Leo X., Luther wrote as follows (fol. 144a) : "Nu 
allerheiligster Vatter ich bezeuge fur Gott, und alien seinen Creaturen, dasz 
ichnie Willens gewest, noch heutigen Tages bin, dasz ich mir mit Ernst hatte 
fiirgesetzt, der Romischen Kirchen und Euer Heiligkeit Gewalt einerley 
Weisz anzugreifen. Ya ich bekenne frey, dasz dieser Kirchen Gewalt uber 
ailes seye, und ihr nichts weder im Hiinmel, noch aufl Erden kbnne f iirgezo- 
gen werden, den allein Jesus Christus der Herr uber alles. Derowegen wol- 
len Euer Heiligkeit bbsen falschen Lastermaulern nicht glaaben geben, die 
vom Luther andersz sagen, oder ihm aunegen." (Now, most Holy Father, 
I testify before God and all His creatures that I never did, nor am I willing 
this day to, attack the authority of the Roman Church or that of your Holi- 
ness in any way whatsoever. Yes, I confess freely that this Church has 
power over all, and that nothing in heaven or on earth can be preferred to 
it except Jesus Christ alone, who is Lord of all. Therefore I pray your 
Holiness not to give credit to bad, false, and slanderous mouths who may 
speak otherwise of Luther or charge him differently.) 

Another letter which Luther addressed to the same Pope Leo, ends with 
the following (fol. 58) : " Derohalben heiligster Vatter falle ich fiir Euer 
Heiligkeit zu Ftiszen, und ergib sambt allem, was ich bin und habe. Euer 
Heiligkeit handeln mit mir ihres Gef aliens. Bei Euer Heiligkeit steht es, 
meiner Sach ab, oder zuzuf alien, mir Recht, oder Unrecht zu geben, mir das 
Leben zu shenken, oder zu nehmen. Es gerathe nu, wie es wolle, so will ich 
nicht anderst wissen, den dasz Euer Heiligkeit Stimme Christi Stimme seye, 
der durch sie handle und rede." (Therefore, most Holy Father, prostrate at 
the feet of your Holiness, I surrender myself and all that I am and have, that 
your Holiness may deal with me according to your good pleasure. It rests 
with your Holiness to approve or condemn my cause, to pronounce me right 
or wrong, to give me life or take it. Let what will happen to me, I want to 
know nothing but the voice of your Holiness, which is the voice of Christ, 
who acts and speaks through you.) 

Was Luther sincere when he wrote such protestations of obedience and 
attachment to the Holy See ? If he was sincere he ceased to be so after 
his writings were condemned by the Pope ; for he called him the man of sin, 
the Antichrist, and a hundred other disgraceful names, which he would not 
dare to do before. But if he was not sincere even when he wrote these pro- 
testations, then he played the hypocrite in a most contemptible manner ; 
and such a hypocrite founded Protestantism ! 



172 



The Parable of the Scribe. 



"Kemember thou keep holy the Sabbath day/' and 
this they enforce with greater rigor than even the 
ancient Scribes and Pharisees ; but they do not 
know that one which says: "Thou shalt not bear 
false witness against thy neighbor." 



SECTION IX. 



THE PHARISEE AND PUBLICAN. 



THE parables which we have thus far examined 
principally exhibit to us the exterior of the true 
Church ; but as it is open to all nations, we may enter 
with confidence and examine its interior construction, 
taking as our guide-book the beautiful portrait 
drawn by the Divine Architect Himself. 

Now, the material church edifice is a sensible 
representation of the spiritual edifice of every reli- 
gion ; people build churches according to the tenets 
of their creed. For example, a Jewish synagogue is 
constructed differently from a mosque ; a mosque 
differs from a Catholic church; in like manner, a 
Protestant church differs from a Catholic church ; 
and so it is with all denominations — each has a style 
peculiar to itself. Treating here only of Protestant- 
ism, I will show in the present parable that the idea 
of a place of worship, such as is at present construct- 
ed for Protestant sects, did not even enter the mind 
of our Saviour when He spoke of people praying in a 
place of public worship. 

" Two men went up to the temple to pray : the 
one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican/' * The 
temple here alluded to by our blessed Saviour was 

* St. Luke xviii. 10. 
173 



174 



The Pharisee and Publican. 



evidently the temple of Solomon at Jerusalem, which 
was a type of the future Church of Jesus Christ, as 
also of its many church edifices wherein the " clean 
oblation was to be offered from the rising of the sun 
to its going down."* To understand the true nature 
and destiny of these edifices we must go back to the 
time when the Lord God established the true mode of 
divine worship among His chosen people, the Israel- 
ites. 

When Moses had received the Ten Commandments 
in the desert, and had the ark of the covenant made 
of incorruptible wood and fashioned according to 
the commands of the Almighty Himself, who gave 
the most minute instructions regarding its form and 
construction, and desired that the most beautiful 
things in nature and art should be employed to em- 
bellish this token of His abiding presence ; when all 
was accomplished that He had commanded, and they 
had deposited therein the tables of the law, a vase full 
of the ^miraculous manna which sustained them in 
their journey, and the rod of Aaron blooming in ever- 
lasting verdure, then the sacred tent enclosed this 
hallowed sanctuary, and we are told that the majesty 
of the Lord God of Israel visibly descended on this 
tabernacle of the covenant in the sight of all the 
children of Israel, appearing as a dark cloud during 
the day, but assuming a bright, lurid aspect in the 
darkness of night. The Jews were amazed, and their 
joy knew no bounds, when they saw among them this 
sensible sign of God's presence ; and when, in after- 
years, Solomon built the magnificent temple of Jeru- 
salem, which was one of the seven wonders of the 
world, and dedicated it with unheard-of solemnity, 

* Malachi i. 11. 



The Pharisee and Publican. 



175 



placing the sacred tabernacle with the ark of the 
covenant in the Holy of Holies, there also the 
majesty of the Lord descended and filled the sanc- 
tuary ; yes, "the Lord appeared to Solomon the sec- 
ond time, and said to him : I have sanctified this 
house, which thou hast built, to put My name there 
for ever ; and My eyes and My heart shall be there 
always." * This assurance of the abiding and spe- 
cial presence of God rendered the temple most ven- 
erable and attractive to the Jews, who were the 
chosen people of God, and consequently their tem- 
ple was, at that time, the true Church of God ; 
and so great was the respect which God demanded 
for the Holy of Holies that the high-priest alone 
was permitted to enter there, and this but once a 
year, after long purifications. 

Hence, when the Pharisee and Publican entered 
the temple to pray both were attracted to a particu- 
lar spot, a special apartment where their faith assured 
them God had fixed His tabernacle with men; both, 
however, did not occupy the same position : " The 
Publican standing afar off would not so much as lift 
up his eyes towards heaven." From this we must 
naturally suppose that the Pharisee, trusting in him- 
self as just and despising others, must have stood 
near ; and this is quite in accordance with the cha- 
racter of repentance and proud presumption attri- 
buted to them by the Saviour. Where, then, shall 
we place the Pharisee, that he be near; and where 
that poor Publican, that it can be said he is afar off? 
Near to what, and afar from whom ? 

As the scene is placed in Solomon's temple at Je- 
rusalem, there is no difficulty in answering these 

* 3 Kings viii. 10, ix. 3. 



176 



The Pharisee and Publican, 



questions. The Pharisee rushed up as near as he 
was allowed to approach the Holy of Holies, where 
he believed God had fixed His habitation with men ; 
whereas the poor Publican remained at the entrance, 
or farthest distance from the sanctuary, yet within the 
precincts of the temple. Of course here is meant the 
material distance, because, in the spiritual sense, the 
humble Publican, though standing afar off, was nearer 
to God than, the proud Pharisee offering his prayer 
or eulogy of self-praise leaning oyer the railings of 
the sanctuary. Therefore there was a material spot 
in Solomon's temple where the true believers acknow- 
ledged a real and special Presence of God, not com- 
mon to any other part of the building nor outside of 
it. God Himself said: " Mine eyes and My heart 
shall be there always." 

But this promise did not apply in its full perfection 
to Solomon's material temple, which was destroyed 
after the death of Christ ; the real eyes and heart of 
God were not there. This promise principally applies 
to the Church of Jesus Christ, of which Solomon's 
temple was but the shadow or mere figure. Hence, 
if there was a real and special presence of God in the 
temple of Jerusalem, how much more so must it be 
in the true Church of Jesus Christ which He came 
to establish, and where religion has attained its full 
perfection ! — unless we maintain that the shadow is 
more than the substance, and that the Jews, who re- 
ceived but the shadows and figures of the good things 
to come in the New Testament, were more favored 
by God than Christians, who received the reality. 

Moreover, this parable was not spoken by our Blessed 
Lord for the instruction of his contemporaries alone ; 
it was also recorded in the Gospel for the benefit of 



The Pharisee and Publican. 



177 



all Christians. " Tor what things soever were written, 
were written for our instruction/' says the Apostle 
St. Paul.* "We have seen in the parable of the leaven 
how Christ warns all the faithful, even of future gen- 
erations, against the leaven of the Pharisees. For 
there are always and in all places, in as well as out 
of the true Church, men who imitate the Pharisees 
and the Publicans. 

Now, suppose that two of these — one of each class 
—were to go together, and the scene described by our 
Saviour as having taken place in the temple of J eru- 
salem were to be reacted in one of our modern Chris- 
tian churches. If it be a Protestant church, where 
will the Publican stand in order to be afar off ; and 
where will the Pharisee go, that it can be said he is 
nearer, in the sense in which Jesus Christ understood 
it ? He might be near to or afar off from the desk 
of the preacher ; but nobody believes that more than 
Solomon is there, or that the spot where the preacher 
stands or sits is a place of more eminent holiness and 
sanctity than the Holy of Holies in Solomon's temple. 
Place him near to or afar off from the table of the 
communion service ; no one believes that the Lord 
God has fixed His throne there or "put His name 
there for ever," and that His real eyes and His real 
heart are always there. There is no spot in a Protest- 
ant church believed to be more sacred than any other 
part of the building on account of a special and real 
presence of God on that spot. You may place the 
Pharisee or Publican in front or behind the pews ; 
let them turn to the north or the south, the east or 
the west, to the floor or the ceiling — it is all the same ; 
neither will be nearer to nor farther from God than 



* Rem. sv. 4. 



178 



The Pharisee and Publican. 



his sins place him. Of a nearer or farther bodily 
distance there can be no mention in such a place of 
worship. 

But let us now transfer the scene to a Catholic 
church. If the adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist 
is kept in the tabernacle of the altar, "behold, a 
greater than Solomon is here."* Though it be no- 
thing more than a little wooden church — even a log- 
house — it is infinitely holier than the Holy of Holies, 
and contains a treasure far exceeding the glories of 
Solomon's temple, yea, more than all the treasures of 
earth and heaven. Here is the true ark of the new 
covenant, of which the Jews had only the shadow, 
wrapt in a cloud of. mystery, dark and impenetrable 
during the daylight of faith, but fiery and shining 
in the darkness of human wisdom and prudence. 
The Lord of Hosts is here present; He is the "'liv- 
ing bread that came down from heaven,'' infinitely 
superior to the manna that fed the Jews in the 
desert. Here is present, not the tables of the law, 
but the Divine Lawgiver Himself ; not the blooming 
rod of Aaron, but the " High-Priest for ever accord- 
ing to the order of Melchisedech," is enclosed in this 
lowly tabernacle : not graven images of cherubim 
extend their wings over this holy shrine, but real 
cherubim and seraphim, and myriads of the heavenly 
host, hover round this "tabernacle of God with 
men'' f ; not only His name, but also His real eyes, 
His real heart pierced on the cross by the lance, are 
always present in this holy place. If the Pharisee 
wants to come near he can step up to the altar-rails. 
If the poor Publican dare not approach, but remains 
standing afar off, bewailing his sins, it is at the 

* St. Matt. xii. 42. t Apoc. xxi. 3. 



The Pharisee and Publican. 



179 



farthest distance from the altar, from the Blessed 
Sacrament, close to the entrance, where in most of 
the Catholic churches the confessionals are placed. 
There he finds a proper place to strike his breast and 
acknowledge his sins to advantage, for, as our Blessed 
Lord said, he returns to his house justified. 

Thus we see clearly that whether our Saviour in- 
tended this parable for Jews or Christians (but it is 
most probably intended for both), He had no refe- 
rence whatever to a Protestant place of worship ; for 
as He was to have no share in the invention of Pro- 
testantism, as it was to oppose His teaching and 
snatch from Him multitudes of souls, so the con- 
struction of its churches was also opposed to His 
design. In the Old Testament this parable applies 
to the temple of Solomon, in the New Testament to 
the Catholic Church; but nowhere in the mind of 
our Saviour was the Protestant Church to be found. 



SECTION X. 



THE PRODIGAL SON. 



CHAPTER I. 

HIS DEPASTURE FROM HOME. 

ONE of the most beautiful parables contained in 
holy Scripture is that of the prodigal child. 
Who has ever read it without spiritual profit ? Who 
has yet exhausted its beauties or learned all the les- 
sons of God's sweet mercy which it contains ? And 
if the reader is not instructed in the kingdom of 
heaven, a stranger to the Catholic faith, how few of 
its celestial beauties does he perceive, how many of 
the most significant circumstances are hidden from 
him ! As for me, I do not pretend to exhaust the 
subject in the explanation which, with the light of 
Catholic faith, I am about to give. Many will read 
my sentiments, and discover, by the aid of God's 
grace, new beauties, and learn more truths than I 
ever saw in meditating on the subject. But let the 
reader follow me with simplicity and candor, and he 
will be convinced that the light before me, in which 
I explain every detail of this parable, is not darkness ; 
even if the light of truth, to the great mortification 
of his self-esteem, force him to acknowledge that he 
himself is that prodigal child, and that the first part 

180 



The Prodigal Son. 



181 



of this parable contains nothing less than the history 
of his own error and revolt against the Church of 
God, he will pardon me on the principle laid down 
by the Holy Ghost: "Better are the wounds of a. 
friend than the deceitful kisses of an enemy," * es- 
pecially if a speedy return to the father's house is 
necessary to ensure his salvation. The preachers of 
the word of God in the Catholic Church have to do 
the duty of the watch-dogs in the flock — if they do 
not succeed in turning back the strayed sheep by 
barking at it, they sometimes bite its ears, but only 
to save it and bring it back to the fold. 

" A certain man had two sons. And the younger 
of them said to his father: Father, give me the 
portion of substance that falleth to me. And he 
divided unto them the substance, "f There is no 
need of controversy as to who is meant by this cer- 
tain man. God is the Father of all men, and the 
God-man, Jesus Christ, the second Adam, the 
Father of all Christians. But who are the fovo 
sons ? Some say the angels and men, the two sorts 
of rational beings whom God created for His service 
and adopted for His own beloved children. But if 
mankind, the younger brother, fell away, so did a 
great number of the angels — the elder brother — of 
whom the Father says : "My son, thou art always 
with me," which cannot be said to the angels as a 
body, as they were not all faithful to God. Others 
say they are the just man and the sinner. But if 
there are just men who never sinned grievously but 
remained faithful to their Father, and others who 
did sin thus but w T ere afterwards converted to God, 
so there are also many sinners who were never in 

* Prov. xxviii. 6. t St Luke rv. 11. 



182 



The Prodigal Son. 



the Father's house, never belonged to the Church, 
and who never received the gift of sanctifying 
grace ; consequently the parable cannot be so well 
applied in this case as in the following. 

St. Ambrose, one of the most illustrious doctors of 
the Church, gives us the true interpretation. He 
says : " He leaves the Father's house who leaves the 
Church." And, in fact, a member of the true 
Church of Christ, even if he commits a mortal sin, 
does not leave his Father's house but has behaved 
badly there, except his sin was of such a nature 
as to deserve excommunication — that is, expulsion 
from the Father's house. So that by the elder 
brother we are to understand all the faithful who 
always remained in the Church, which is the Fa- 
ther's house, where He abides " always, even to the 
consummation of the world " ; and by the younger, 
those who separate from the Church of God, no 
matter whether it be for the purpose of joining some 
particular sect or of living according to their own 
notions. This interpretation receives strength by 
the distinction between the elder and the younger 
brother, for truth is older than error. Error is a 
denial of truth, consequently truth must exist be- 
fore error can take place. Moreover, age is grave, 
sedate, rational; youth, on the contrary, is fiery, 
passionate, impetuous and unreasonable. There- 
fore such an act of perversity as to leave the house 
of a good father is more natural to the passion of 
youth than to the sedate gravity of old age. Hence, 
" the younger of them said to his father : Father, 
give me the portion of substance that falleth to me." 
For many years these two brothers lived peaceably 
together, in the same house, under the same kind 



The Prodigal Son. 



183 



father, instructed by the same tutors and governors,* 
ate at the same table, and were both heirs of their 
father's substance. Such was the case in the Church 
of Jesus Christ before sects arose and separated 
themselves from the Church. All obeyed the same 
Father, all acknowledged the same Church, the 
Spouse of Christ, for their mother, all had but one 
faith, all partook of the same sacraments — in a word, 
all Christians were one and the same family, pre- 
sided oyer by St. Peter and his successors — " the 
faithful and wise steward whom the Lord hath set 
over His family to give them their measure of wheat 
in due season." f 

Now, it was not the elder but the younger of the 
two brothers that " said to his father : Father, give 
me the portion of substance that falleth to me " ; 
towards the end of the parable our Blessed Lord tells 
us that the father said to the elder brother : " Son, 
thou art always with me, and all I have is thine." 
The spiritual and the temporal interests of the elder 
brother depended on his remaining faithful in the 
house of his father. Had he left at any time he 
would have forfeited all the rights and privileges 
of the first-born, even as Esau when he sold his 
birthright to Ja<3ob. In like manner the spiritual 
and the temporal interests of the Church of Eome 
require that she should keep the deposit of faith 
whole and entire. She has always on her side the 
promise of Christ to St. Peter : "I have prayed for 
thee that thy faith fail not." With this unerring 
faith which the prayer of Christ obtained for her she 
was able at all times to fulfil the command of the 
Lord, " Confirm thy brethren." By means of this 

* Gal. iv. 2. t St. Luke xii. 42. 



184 



The Prodigal Son. 



unalterable and unflinching faitli she maintained 
her supremacy over all the churches. Hence it was 
that, no matter how jealously the bishops of the 
various churches or dioceses, as ' we call them, 
watched over the preservation of their own rights, 
they faithfully submitted all their doubts and plans 
to the authority of the Roman See. Even heretics, 
though in vain, have sought most anxiously to have 
their errors sanctioned by the Pope of Rome as the 
surest means to facilitate their success. The Church 
of Christ was not yet one hundred years old when 
St. Polycarp, the aged Bishop of Smyrna and disci- 
ple of St. John the Evangelist, undertook a long and 
painful journey to Rome (even though St. John the 
Apostle was living close by) for the purpose of accus- 
ing the heretic Marcion to the successor of St. Peter, 
and asking his decision with regard to the time Easter 
was to be celebrated T>y the Christians, Marcion him- 
self also went to Rome, hoping to obtain from the 
Holy See an approval of his errors ; and history in- 
forms us that he met St. Polycarp at the entrance 
of one of the public baths, and had the impudence 
to say to the saint, " Do you know me ? " ; to which 
the saint replied, " I know thee to be the first-born 
of the devil." Such was the senttment St. John's 
disciple entertained for the founders of sects who 
invent religions different from that of St. Peter and 
his successors, for whom Christ prayed " that his 
faith fail not." 

But what motive induced the younger brother to 
throw off the yoke of paternal authority and quit 
the house of his Father ? It was his own reason- 
ing — the reasoning of passion, not of good sense. 
Had he consulted sound reason, common sense, he 



Tlie Prodigal Son. 



185 



would find every reason to stay at home, and none 
to leave it. Supposing even there was some dis- 
order going on in his Father's house; that "men 
were asleep" when they should be watching; that 
the tutors and governors appointed by the Father 
were sometimes too severe or too remiss in the 
exercise of their duty, authority, etc.; was there 
not at hand the supreme paternal authority to re- 
medy this evil— that of him who had the right to 
reform abuses when they occurred ? Not every 
man, woman, and child was appointed to this 
office, but only the "faithful and wise steward 
whom the Lord hath set over His family." There- 
fore the cause alleged by the younger brother for 
leaving his Father's house was not a good one. The 
more I consider his behavior, his language, .the very 
tone of voice in which he addresses his Father, the 
more I am convinced that he is impelled by passion, 
which is the foundation of all our disorders. 

What an act of impudence on the part of this 
inexperienced youth to step before his Father, to 
w r hom he owes all that he is and has, with the air 
of a person that is wronged and seeks prompt satis- 
faction, as if his father did not deal fairly with him ! 
"Father," he says, "give me the portion of sub- 
stance!" Surely these words are dictated by anger. 
Bitterness has poisoned his heart; he scarcely knows 
what he says or to whom he speaks. He does not 
say, like a kind, respectful child, "Please, Father," 
or "Be so good," etc. No, he uses the imperative 
mood, as if speaking to an inferior, or at least to 
his equal. "Give," he says — "give me the portion 
of substance." 

Every sect, every heresy, every schism has its 



186 



The Prodigal Son. 



origin in human passion. Pride, eovetousness, 
lust, or, as the Apostle St. John says, "the con- 
cupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of 
the eyes, and the pride of life,"* are the accursed 
trinity to which, either all together or singly, 
every founder of a sect has sacrificed his ancient 
faith in God the Father, God the Son, God the 
Holy Ghost, and the holy Catholic Church. 

The younger son thought he was not treated 
with justice in his Father's house ; he fancied he 
had rights that were not respected ; he wanted a 
liberty which could not be granted, he being still 
"under tutors and governors until the time ap- 
pointed by the Father." f He wanted to enjoy 
himself ; whereas he was told in his Father's house 
that it was not yet the time for enjoyment, but 
for labor and suffering. He did not wish to be 
controlled by any man, but to follow his own judg- 
ment in the pursuit of happiness, fully persuaded 
that the farther he went from his Father's house 
the greater should be his happiness. Are not these 
the very pleas advanced by those who fall away from 
the Church ? 

" Give me the portion of substance that f alleth to 
me." What is this portion of substance ? And 
what can poor, frail, fallen man claim as his own 
in the sight of his Creator? You answer me : "I 
claim the rights of man which your Church au- 
thorities suppress." I understand your meaning 
perfectly, but I know of no rights which man can . 
claim independently of Almighty God as his own, 
except the right of doing his duty; but to fulfil 
his duty to his Father is what the prodigal child 

* 1 Ep. St. John ii. 16. t Gal. iv. 2. 

. 1 



The Prodigal Son. 



187 



dislikes. If men were always as anxious to know 
and accomplish their duty to God as they are eager 
to know and guard their rights, not one sect or 
heresy would have arisen in the Church up to the 
present day. All heresies were conceived and 
brought forth in disobedience, pride, lust, and 
covetousness. 

Hence we see it is not the Father who has to decide 
what is that "portion of substance that falleth to 
him." The younger son has a reasoning of his own, 
and whether it agrees with the views of the Father 
and the doctrine of the infallible teacher at Home he 
cares not. According to his own reasoning, what is 
the "portion of substance that falleth to him"? He 
claims as his own will and liberty ; nothing less will 
satisfy him. If there be anything more reserved for 
him by his Father's liberality, he cares nothing about 
it ; he leaves it to the elder brother. But what is 
his portion ? What is it that is left to him when he 
renounces the Father's favor — the sanctifying grace 
of God, the happy home of his Father, abounding in 
riches, where all had more than enough to satisfy 
them ? Eejecting the supernatural, there is no- 
thing left to him but the natural, and this is little 
indeed — a poor, poor inheritance: a human body 
with all its miseries, a human soul in the state of 
mortal sin, an intellect obscured, a memory weaken- * 
ed, a will inclining to evil, and perhaps— yes, let us 
not forget it — a printed copy of the Bible, purposely 
mistranslated from the original the better to suit sec- 
tarian purposes and exclude the dogmas of Catho- 
licity. It is the Testament, the will of the Father ; 
and no matter how far he goes from his Father and 
his Father's house, if he only reads and interprets for 



188 



The Prodigal Son, 



himself this copy of the Father's will he imagines 
himself happier and better off than his elder brother, 
who always remained in his Father's house. " This/' 
he says, " is what I believe." But who, except him- 
self, will say: You are right; "this do and thou 
shalt live " ? * Men dissatisfied with truth make theo- 
ries for themselves, and endeavor to persuade them- 
selves and others that their fabrications are infallible, 
whilst they deny and explain away the infallibility of 
the Church to which Christ promised the perpetual 
assistance and guidance of the unerring Holy Spirit, 
"the Spirit of Truth" ! 

" And he divided unto them his substance." To 
us it seems surprising that the Father yielded so 
easily to His son's request, not even saying a single 
word to detain His parting child. But such are the 
judgments of God ! He is exceedingly good to those 
who seek Him with humble and contrite hearts, but 
terrible in His just auger against those whom pride 
excites to revolt against Him. And never is His 
punishment more fearful than when He ceases to 
speak to the sinner's heart, allowing him to have 
his own way without interfering. 

The parable informs us that "not many days after, 
the younger son, gathering all together, went abroad 
into a far country, and there wasted his substance, 
living riotously." Ever since this wayward child be- 
gan to loathe the yoke of parental authority he re- 
garded his father's house as a prison and himself a 
slave ; complained of every one and everything. In 
the midst of plenty he felt himself in want — in want 
of something not to be found in his father's house ; 
therefore he must go abroad and seek it. His wicked 

* St. Luke x. 28. 



The Prodigal Son. 



189 



propensities beckon him far, far from the home of 
his father. Instead of entering into himself to dis- 
cover the evil passions which reigned in his heart, 
and which were the real cause of his unhappiness, he 
fosters within his breast the spirit of rebellion, and 
accuses his father's house, though well regulated, of 
being the cause of his dissatisfaction. The Church 
of Jesus Christ is a well-regulated household ; but in 
order to live happy and content therein man must 
obey. By disobedience mankind was ruined ; by obe- 
dience they are restored. 

N"o Catholic ever entertains even a thought about 
leaving the Church as long as he is submissive and 
obedient, for thus he bears a close resemblance to Him 
who, for our sake, "became obedient unto death, 
even the death of the cross." * But " whosoever re- 
volteth and continueth not in the doctrine of Christ 
hath not God."f If he "hath not God" he can 
have no peace, and if he is not willing to seek it 
where alone it can be found — in a perfect submission 
to Christ and His Church, the kingdom of God on 
earth — it is no wonder that he looks abroad and seeks 
peace and contentment elsewhere, but always far, 
far from the Father's house, the Church. This far 
country is as far from the Father's house as error 
is distant from truth. There lies between them a 
whole impossibility, for what is untrue can never be 
true. Truth is where Christ is, who is the Truth ; 
and Christ is with His Church "all days, even to the 
consummation of the world." Therefore truth is to 
be found only in His holy Church — the Father's 
house. 



* Phil. ii. 8. 



t 2 Ep. St. John 9. 



ISO 



The Prodigal Son. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE CONSEQUENCES OE APOSTASY. 

U A ND there he wasted his substance, living rib- 
tously." Behold what our Saviour thinks of 
a life outside the true Church, far from the Father's 
house ! He calls it a waste, a waste of substance, a 
riotous life ! There is no doubt that there are men 
outside the true Church who practise virtue, and 
even perform deeds of heroism; but what does all 
this amount to before God ? They are acts of natu- 
ral virtues such as the pagans themselves practised. 
St. Augustine calls them "great steps out of the 
way." They are not stamped with the seal of super- 
natural faith and grace, consequently cannot merit a 
supernatural reward. The Holy Ghost tells us : " The 
just man shall live by his faith," * which is, of course, 
the true faith ; and "without faith," says the Apos- 
tle, "it is impossible to please God."f It is only the 
" branches that remain in the vine that bring forth 
fruit." \ The true faith is the rule of the true 
Church. It is a " gift of God," § a supernatural gift 
which enables the receiver to perform supernatural- 
ly good actions worthy of a supernatural reward. 
Hence, he that loses the faith and leaves the Church 
loses also this supernatural principle of action, and 
has nothing to fall back upon but the influence of 
passion and the dictates of his benighted natural 
reason. We must conclude that a life under such a 
rule is not directed to the supernatural end for which 
it was given — therefore a tvasie. Man loses his time, 
his labor, his sufferings, his strength, his soul and 
body, and all the graces he could obtain had he re- 

* Hab. ii. 4. t Heb. xi. 6. $ St. John xv. 4. § Eph. ii. 8. 



The Prodigal Son. 



191 



mained faithful in the Father's house. If his heart 
does not delight in God and heavenly things, he de- 
scends to seek for pleasures beneath him ; he will 
delight in earthly things, " living riotously." " He 
wastes his substance." 

"And after he had spent all, there came a mighty 
famine in that country, and he began to be in want." 
Temporal goods are limited, transitory goods which 
can never satisfy the desire for unlimited happiness 
which exists in the bosom of every rational being. 
No wonder that they give out at the end, and leave a 
void in the soul which no earthly good or fleeting 
pleasure can fill — a hunger, a famine. The joy which 
elated the prodigal on his arrival in that far country, 
where he found himself free from the paternal rule 
that governed his father's house, and where he could 
live according to his own notions and passions, was of 
very short duration. His happiness was that of a 
man in a state of intoxication, who fancies himself 
the wisest, the best, the most perfect, and the most 
contented being in God's creation, but, on recovering 
his senses, finds that he is indeed most wretched and 
miserable— if he does not fall into the horrors of 
delirium tremens, wherein his disordered mind sees 
nothing around him but fire and serpents. 

That there are a great famine and want am'ong 
those who fell away from the Catholic Church is very 
plain to any observer who has an opportunity of con- 
versing with them. While every day brings forth 
new opinions, new theories, new systems to soothe 
the troubled consciences, and there fore new sects, 
new preachers, new churches, each one pretending to 
improve the old — as if God's truth awaited their 
coming to perfect it — there is at the present time 



192 



The Prodigal Son, 



a fearful increase of those unfortunate souls who fall 
into an apparent apathy against all religion, a kind 
of spiritual lethargy from which nothing short of a 
miracle of God's grace can arouse them. These souls, 
growing weary of the forms of worship with which 
they are acquainted, turn away tired and unsatis- 
fied, while they know not that in the Catholic Church 
alone they will find full and satisfactory reasons to 
command their firm belief in her teaching ("thy 
testimonies are made exceedingly credible"). * They 
only know the slanders and misrepresentations with 
which sectarian teachers have prejudiced their minds 
against her from their very infancy — so much so 
that as in ancient times the name of Catholic was 
identical with truth and goodness, so with them it 
signifies whatever is false, absurd, and wicked ; while, 
on the other hand, common sense tells them that 
these numerous opposing sects cannot be the true 
Church of Jesus Christ ; and as they are unable to 
distinguish which is true, and unwilling to condemn 
any one, they prefer to respect them all, and embrace 
none for fear of embracing the wrong one, and thus 
they perish of hunger. 

Another remarkable fact is that non-Catholics are 
more eager to bring forward the subject of religion in 
their conversation with Catholics than Catholics are 
among themselves. The reason of this is very clear. 
He that hath the truth is satisfied and feels no need 
of searching for it ; whereas he that has it not, and 
is anxious to fi^.d it, will search, and go on searching 
like the woman in the Gospel, who, having "lost a 
groat," went on searching until she found it. Again, 
a man that is sick or has some trouble is apt to 

* Psalms xcii. 5. 



TJie Prodigal Son. 



193 



speak of it. You will not converse with him five 
minutes before he will, of his own accord, inform 
you of his trouble. Perhaps it is the toothache, 
headache, or something troubles his mind, etc.; at all 
events, whatever the pain is, it relieves him to speak 
of it, for the human heart naturally craves sympa- 
thy. In like manner non-Catholics like to sjjeak on 
religion, because in their religion, whatever it may 
be, they feel sick and uneasy ; they feel a want of 
light, of certitude ; and whatever they may say in 
praise of the glorious Eeformation, they are con- 
vinced that Protestantism can never satisfy them ; 
they are (would to God that they would acknow- 
ledge it !) like the prodigal son, who, after he had 
spent all, and there "came a mighty famine in 
that country, began to be in want." 

"And he went and cleaved to one of the citizens 
of that country. And he sent him into his farm to 
feed swine." The picture becomes more and more 
gloomy in the career of the unfortunate prodigal. 
The longer the erring child stays away from his Fa- 
ther's house, the more wretched he becomes. Were 
he not blinded by passion and prejudice he would at 
once open his eyes to the truth, and acknowledge that 
he erred in following the evil counsels of his heart, 
and that he must hasten to retrace the false step he 
has taken. Already he cannot help seeing that his 
present condition is worse than when he lived in 
the paternal mansion. He is now in luant — what 
he never was before. In his Father's house there 
was always an abundance of bread. But no, he 
will not acknowledge yet that he did wrong in 
leaving his Father's house ; he still cherishes the 
idea that his fortune and happiness are to be found 



194 



The Prodigal Son. 



in that far country, far away from God, far from 
the Catholic Church. And having refused to be 
under the tutors and governors appointed iy the Fa- 
ther as long as the heir was a child, he goes now of 
his own free-will and offers his services to a stranger 
— in fact, an enemy to his Father ! For who is " the 
citizen of that country"? As there are but two 
kingdoms in this world, the kingdom of God and 
the kingdom of Satan, and as no one can belong to 
one without renouncing the other, so, in like man- 
ner, all those who renounce the true Church re- 
nounce Jesus Christ and His kingdom, and take 
service in the kingdom of Satan, whom our Saviour 
calls " the prince of this world." * And as the king- 
dom of Christ is founded on truth and teaches all 
truth, so that of the evil one is founded on falsehood 
—a kingdom of error ; for Satan was a liar from the 
beginning. Hence, the Father's house represents 
the kingdom of Christ, while that of Satan is repre- 
sented by that far country where the prodigal lived 
riotously and "devoured his substance with harlots." 
Farms of every description could be had in that dis- 
tant country to accommodate those wandering souls 
which, displeased with the demands of truth, aban- 
don the true Church, the choice garden of the celes- 
tial King, where alone the flowers and fruits of true 
virtue can be found, to enter on the wide, unculti- 
vated fields of error and infidelity. The wretched 
prodigal has no need to dedicate his services in a di- 
rect and formal manner to the prince ,of this world, 
the evil spirit. jS t o man in his senses would do this, 
neither does Satan exact it ; he only requires of the son 
to throw off the yoke of paternal authority, abandon 

* St. John xiv. 30. 



The Prodigal Son. 



195 



his Father's house, and follow his own inclinations or 
those of others, provided only they are in opposition 
to the doctrine of the true Church, which is the will 
of the heavenly Father. And when once the poor 
soul is under the dominion of this prince of dark- 
ness, he will, if possible, drag it by degrees to the 
lowest point of degradation, which is clearly pointed 
out to us in the fact that he "sent him to his farm 
to feed swine." 

As the whole parable has a spiritual application, 
there can be no doubt that by the farm is meant one 
of the many different religious establishments where- 
in the wicked spirit, under the pretext of religion, at- 
taches his dupes more and more to the love of the 
world and the gratifications of their passions. There- 
fore we may say without fear of slander that the " citi- 
zens of that cotfntry " are all those founders and sap- 
porters of sects who, having rejected the spiritual 
authority established by Jesus Christ, set up churches 
for themselves and believe more in the orthodoxy of 
their own political faith than of their religious preach- 
ing, and have more at heart to please men and gain 
the esteem of the world than to be true ministers of 
the Gospel. 

A prodigal child, haying left the true Church, the 
"Father's house," cannot live long without a reli- 
gion ; and as he is not willing to return, nay, even 
shudders at the idea, he joins some church of that 
"far country," not because he is convinced that it 
is as good as his Father's house, where there is an 
abundance of bread, but because it is the nearest, 
the most fashionable in the place, coincides the 
most with his own ideas, gives the greatest liberty 
to his inclinations, etc. And the "citizen of that 



196 



The Prodigal Son. 



country" — that is, the minister of that particular 
sect which he embraces — is but too willing to receive 
him as another straying sheep from Rome, and pre- 
sents him to his congregation as a new proof of his 
own apostolic zeal. Although he was always a very 
poor specimen of a Catholic, a cause of scandal to 
his brethren, and a constant trouble in his Father's 
house, still he can be a respectable member of the neio 
church, and may be turned to the best advantage in 
promoting the interest of that sect. 

" And he sent him into his farm to feed swine." In 
his Father's house he was too proud to obey, to sub- 
mit to the divine will as a son of the Father or a child 
of God ; but on the farm of the citizen of that far coun- 
try he is content to fill the position of swine-herd ! 
The swine represent the unruly passions of man, 
which have their seat in his animal nature ; and when 
man is not guided in all his actions by the " science 
of the Spirit," * the divine faith, he yields to the crav- 
ings of his passions, which resemble swine — sensual, 
voluptuous, unmortified, always grunting, ever quar- 
relsome and impatient, never more content than when 
they can bury themselves in the filth and mire of cor- 
ruption. Like the pagans of old, who, " despairing, 
gave themselves up to the working of all unclean- 
ness," f the soul, despairing of finding the truth, re- 
jects religion entirely, and returns to the so-called big 
church « whose G-od is the belly," J having neither 
head, nor heart, nor soul to care for, but only a 
stomach and rebellious flesh. Hence arises the in- 
satiable hunger that devours the poor prodigal 5 for 
these swine are not easily satisfied. 

" And he would fain have filled his belly with the 

* Ecclus. xvii. 6. t Eph. iv. 19. $ Phil. iii. 19. 



The Prodigal Son. 



197 



husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto 
him." As he finds no pleasure in high and holy 
things, he turns to the lowest. He wishes to enjoy 
the pleasures of this world, but finds them too scant 
to satisfy his hunger. He reads infidel and immoral 
books, but what are these if not " husks which the 
swine do eat " — pods containing but a few insipid 
grains, seed for other husks ? Alas ! there is no good 
Father on that farm to watch over the poor child, 
and give him sound, substantial bread to satisfy his 
hunger. Private judgment has led him to question 
the right of his Father in keeping him under the 
tutorship of his elder brother, and induced him to 
decide in the negative. The " right of private judg- 
ment " opens to him every book he finds on the way ; 
were it even "husks the swine did eat," he claims 
the right and privilege to eat them. It is only the 
Catholic Church that forbids her children to read such 
books ; there they are considered bad, unwholesome 
food, causing sickness and bad taste. And even if 
the younger brother had not departed, and having 
spent all his substance in his Father's house, and 
being hungry, would crave after these husks, no 
man of God would be so imprudent as to give them 
to him. 

Consider here all the motives which at various 
times have induced men born and educated in the 
bosom of the true Church to leave it. You will 
find, without one exception, that some ungoverned 
passion was the cause of their apostasy. Pride, am- 
bition, envy, jealousy, covetousness, lust, etc., and, 
in every case, a stubborn, untractable disposition of 
mind and heart, were the prime movers of such a de- 
parture. And what are these but swine greedy after 



198 



The Prodigal Son. 



husks which the unfortunate prodigal disputes with 
them ? 

And here let us remember that our Saviour spoke 
this parable before the Jews, who were forbidden not 
only to eat swine's flesh, but even to keep such ani- 
mals. Hence the Jews, who had a natural horror 
and disgust for these animals, must have been much 
more horrified than we are when they saw the prodi- 
gal reduced to such want and degradation. It is, 
therefore, evident that in this case the master-hand 
of our Lord lays on the strongest colors, in order to 
depict the wretched condition of such as forsake the 
true Church to cleave to the " citizen of that coun- 
try/' and at the same time discovers to us the cruelty 
and hard-heartedness of their new master. jSTot- 
withstanding all this, how many will read this beauti- 
ful parable, deplore the unfortunate lot of the stray- 
ing child, and believe themselves to be in the house 
of that good Father — nay, even at His table — 
whereas, in fact, they are on the farm of the citizen 
in the far country, in the same condition as that poor 
wanderer, who " would fain have filled his belly with 
the husks the swine did eat, and no man gave unto 
him"! 



CHAPTER III. 

EEPEKTANCE ATsD KETUKK TO HIS FATHEK. 

TT was a fortunate circumstance in the life of the 
A younger brother to have lived some time in the 
Father's house, to have been acquainted with its 
management, and to have partaken of its plenty. His 



The Prodigal Son. 



199 



life of dissipation and misery had not obliterated the 
remembrance of the happy days which he spent in 
the company of his elder brother under the paternal 
care of a wise and loving Father. He had disregard- 
ed it, like many other things, but he had not lost it ; 
and herein he had an advantage over those who, less 
favored than himself, were never in the house of his 
Father, the true Church of Christ, but were born and 
educated on one of the farms of the citizen of that 
far country, though perhaps in a more honorable 
capacity than that of feeding swine. They only 
know of the Father's house by the calumnies and 
misrepresentations spread by other prodigal children 
and maintained and endorsed by the citizen 'of that 
far country, who is the swwn enemy of this good 
Father, and leaves no means untried, however wicked 
and blasphemous, to retain 'in the service of his 
farms all those under his dominion. They may go 
from one farm to another, change their occupation 
for some other — anything, provided they do not re- 
turn to the Father's house. In other words, they 
may change their religion, go from one church to 
another, believe more or less, or even nothing, if they 
choose ; the prince of this world, who is the spirit 
of darkness,- the father of lies, and the founder of 
all sects, will raise no opposition as long as his sub- 
jects do not return to the Catholic Church, the inde- 
structible residence of the Father and elder brother. 
Speak to them of the incomparable beauty of 
that house built by Divine Wisdom Himself, the 
Word of God incarnate ; of its enduring solidity and 
firmness, being built upon a rock ; of its great wealth 
in treasures and pearls of great price ; of its inex- 
haustible store of "the Bread of the strong," the 



200 



The Prodigal Son. 



" Living Bread that came down from heaven," * and 
the wine springing forth virgins ; mention the un- 
limited authority and power of doing good conferred 
on the " faithful and wise steward whom the Lord 
hath set over His family," etc.- — you are believed to 
exaggerate, perhaps to be an impostor ; but it will be 
a rare event indeed if they believe your word. 

Fortunately the prodigal child of the parable had 
been in the Father's house, and knew from experience 
that there was no exaggeration. Therefore, at last 
" returning to himself, he said : How many hired ser- 
vants in my Father's house abound with bread : and I 
here perish with hunger." 

Misery opens his eyes to the truth and discovers to 
him the real cause of his misfortune. Before it was 
his Father's house and the manner of life he was 
obliged to lead under tutors and governors that he 
considered the source of all his troubles. Hence he 
sought happiness far from the paternal roof ; he tried 
a licentious life, which is not the liberty of the chil- 
dren of God, and he became miserable ; he tried obe- 
dience, but under another master, and he is reduced 
to the lowest rank in society. He is perishing of 
hunger, and his excessive hunger and humiliation 
force him to turn his eyes upon himself and acknow- 
ledge within his own heart that his unruly passions 
are the true cause of his distress. "Thy perdition is 
thy own, Israel ! " f No man perishes but by his 
fault. St. John says that Christ, the "true light, 
enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world "J 
— that is, He gives to every man so much grace and 
light that, if he co-operates with it and follows it, he 
will obtain other graces, and finally be led to salva- 

* St. John vi. 51. t Osee xiii. 9. % St. John i. 9. 



Tlie Prodigal Son. 



201 



tion. If this light shows him that he is wrong, or 
even causes him to doubt about it, and man heeds it 
not and takes no trouble to be set right in a matter 
of such importance, then "the light shineth in 
darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it,"* 
and man will have to blame himself and perish for 
it, if he remains in darkness. Hence let every man 
return to himself and begin his conversion by accus- 
ing himself, and not others, for his past errors. " The 
beginning of good works," observes St. Augustine, 
" is the confession of bad works." So long as the 
prodigal child does not accuse himself and acknow- 
ledge his faults he will remain on the farm, perhaps 
perish with the swine ; but he will never return to 
the house of his Father. 

" How many hired servants," etc. In the Father's 
house there are two classes of servants who obey 
Him : the children, who, having perfect charity and 
being actuated by a motive of filial love and affection 
for the Father, obey without regard to reward or 
punishment. They love to do the Father's will be- 
cause they love Him. But the other class are those 
who obey for hire, like servants. They obey because 
they expect a reward and will be rewarded fnost liber- 
ally by the Father for every service they have rendered; 
they abstain from offending Him through fear of 
punishment. This latter class, though much more 
imperfect than the former, are nevertheless entitled 
to have their food at the Father's table as well as the 
children of the house. " How many hired servants 
in my Father's house abound with bread ! " And 
truly the Church of Jesus Christ is a real Bethle- 
hem, which being interpreted means a house of dread. 

* St. John i. 5. 



202 



The Prodigal Son. 



Believe with the Catholic Church in the mystery 
of the Real Presence of Christ in the holy Eucha- 
rist, and you will see clearly how beautifully all this 
is verified in her. Christ, the true and eternal Word 
of God, is for ever with His Church. "I am with 
you all days, even to the consummation of the 
world."* He is identified with His doctrine. He 
is identified with the truth. His doctrine is truth, 
for He is the Truth. This Divine Truth always 
abides in His Church, and is at hand in abundance 
for all nations, in every clime, and for all time to 
come. But if you consider Jesus Christ in the 
Blessed Eucharist, He is the "Living Bread" — 
that is, a bread that has life and gives life — because 
it is His flesh for the life of the ivorld ; and of this 
also there is an abundance in the Church, so that 
even those who serve Cod from selfish motives, and 
for the sake of their own interest keep His com- 
mandments, obey His laws, and refrain from sin,- are 
not excluded from partaking of this heavenly ban- 
quet.* 

66 How many hired servants . . . abound with 
bread : and I here perish with hunger." Note here 
the contrast : The hired servants in his Father's 
house — therefore those that are the last in the true 
Church of Christ — however imperfect they may be, as 
long as they endeavor to serve and please God, are in- 
finitely better off than i, a child of the Father, a 
joint-heir of the elder brother — /, far from my Father's 
house, far from the true Church; " there" on the 
farm, in a far country, a servant of that citizen ; here 
among sivine, the filthiest of brutes, and I am so de- 
graded as to be their servant. I here perish for want 

*St. Matt, xxviii. 20. 



The Prodigal Son. 



203 



of the true word of God, the bread of life ; for want of 
the true Bread of heaven, the life-giving Eucharist, I 
perish of hunger — for what are all those shallow, high- 
sounding words of the sermons preached to me on 
this farm but husks which nourish swine ? What is 
the bread and wine which the farmer or minister 
gives, with the express understanding that it is not 
the real body and blood of Christ, but only a figure 
— what is this to my famishing soul when the real 
body and blood which abounds in my Father's house 
is not here ? lam perishing of hunger ; and let the 
citizen of that country say what he will to detain me, 
it is certain if I remain here any longer disputing for 
the husks the swine do eat, the word of Jesus Christ 
will be verified in me: "Except you eat the flesh of 
the Son of man and drink His blood, you shall not 
have life everlasting in you."* Therefore it is clear 
to my mind that if I stay here any longer, far away 
from my Father's house, I perish, I perish of hunger; 
for there is nothing on this farm, nothing outside 
of the true Church, that can satisfy the wants of my 
immortal soul. Hence " I will arise and will go to 
my Father, and say to Him : Father, I have sinned 
against heaven and before Thee ; I am not now wor- 
thy to be called Thy son ; make me as one of Thy 
hired servants." 

Were the Bible a Protestant one, and were it to 
contain Protestant doctrine, our parable would end 
here; for, according to their teaching, all that is 
required of a sinner to be reconciled to God is to 
repent of his sins and confess them to God alone. 
This done, he is forgiven and restored to the Father's 
house. But no ; the prodigal son of the Gospel, al- 

* St. John vi. 54 



204 



The Prodigal Son. 



though he had once fallen away from the true Church 
and joined a sect, is now a Catholic penitent; he re- 
pents in the manner required by the Catholic Church. 
If repentance alone was sufficient he repented al- 
ready while he was yet on the farm feeding swine; 
but, like every well-informed Catholic, he knew that 
this was necessary, but not sufficient. He had to leave 
the farm, the husks, and the swine; without bidding 
farewell to the citizen of that country, or asking his 
leave or advice, he had to arise and go to his Father — 
not only to the Father in heaven, but also to the father 
on earth, who by profession is the father of sinners, 
to whom Christ " has given the ministry of reconcili- 
ation," * and who receives sinners for and in place 
of the heavenly Father. To him he had to confess 
his sin and from him obtain pardon. "And 
rising up he came to his Father/' without any 
human respect or regard for the criticisms of the 
world, without even demanding wages for his ser- 
vice from his employer, or considering the diffi- 
culties to be encountered on his journey. Neither 
is he deterred by the shame and confusion which 
he must naturally feel on reaching the paternal 
home. He hastens to find his Father while he has 
grace and strength to do so ; nothing can in- 
duce him to delay or slacken his steps. He knows 
too well the danger of delay, and remembering these 
words of the Psalmist, " To-day if you shall hear His 
voice, harden not your hearts," f he rises up and 
comes to his Father. " And when he was yet a great 
way off his Father saw him and was moved with com- 
passion. "J 

Behold what a marvellous change in the conduct 

* 2 Cor. v. 18. t Ps. xciv. 8. % St. Luke xv. 20, 



Tlie Prodigal Son. 



205 



of the Father at the return of his prodigal son com- 
pared with that at his departure. When the son 
turned away from his Father, as he would, from a 
stranger, the Father also turned away his affection 
from this ungrateful child, and treated him not as a 
son, but as a stranger. He divided his substance, as 
the prodigal demanded, and let him go where he 
chose. But now, when the child has retraced his 
erring steps and directed his affection to his Father 
and his Father's house, he is again the same kind, 
loving Father. He shows no contempt for the poor 
wanderer, but welcomes him with a merciful and 
compassionate heart. Knowing the weakness and 
frailty of the repenting sinner, he at once comes to 
meet him, and is the first to stretch out his arms to 
embrace him and bestow the kiss of forgiveness. 

"His father saw him" in all his poverty and 
degradation ; but instead of giving way to a just 
anger and meting out to his son a well-deserved 
punishment, "he was moved with compassion, and, 
running to him, fell upon his neck and kissed him." 
When the prodigal left his Father's house he was 
proud and stiff-necked, and would bend to no au- 
thority ; and such a one is hated, despised, and 
condemned by the Father, for "God resisteth the 
proud."* But now he has a pliant neck, bent and 
curbed by adversity and humiliations, ready to re- 
ceive not only the yoke of paternal authority as a 
child, but even the yoke of servitude — willing to be 
the last of the hired servants in the Father's house. 
And this humble, submissive neck is something so 
beautiful and attractive in the eyes of the heavenly 
Father that, running to him, " He falls upon his 

* 1 Ep. St. Peter v. 5. 



206 



Trie Prodigal Son. 



neck and kisses him/' " He giveth His grace to the 
humble/' * This is the kiss of peace, well known to 
the Catholic penitent when he receives absolution 
after a good, sincere, and contrite confession, but en- 
tirely unknown outside of the Church. It is " the 
hidden manna," f whose taste is known only to those 
who receive it. Therefore it is useless to describe it 
to such as never tasted it. They have no idea of it, 
and would not believe it. 

And the son said to him: "Father, I have sinned 
against heaven and before thee : I am not now 
worthy, to be called thy son." As a Catholic he 
knows that he has sinned not only before the Father, 
but also against heaven — that is, all the saints and 
angels of heaven. As the saints and angels love 
God with a love far exceeding that which they bear 
to themselves, they would rather be annihilated than 
see this infinitely good and loving God offended. As 
a dutiful son feels and regards the injuries done to 
his father even more than if done to himself, so all 
heaven is offended when God is offended. The prodi- 
gal son confesses the full malice and extent of his 
sin with the utmost grief and sorrow. No wonder, 
then, that he obtains pardon so easily. "For thy 
soul be not ashamed to say the truth. For there is a 
shame that bringeth sin, and there is a shame that 
bringeth glory and grace." J "If we confess our 
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 
and to cleanse us from all iniquity." § "Confess 
therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for 
another, that you may be saved." || 

Now, it may be objected that even outside of 



* 1 Ep. St. Peter v. 5. t Apoc. ii. 17. X Ecclus. iv. 24, 25. 
§ 1 St. John i. 9. | St. James v. 16. 



TJie Prodigal Son, 



207 



the Church sinners confess their sins, but to God 
alone, not to another — the sick to the priest, as St. 
James indicates in the chapter above quoted. The 
prodigal son did not confess to the heavenly Father 
only. Had he been a Protestant, and had every- 
thing been done in Protestant fashion, he indeed 
would have confessed to the heavenly Father only, 
and no man would have become cognizant of his 
degradation. The Father himself would have done 
what, in the parable, he orders his servants to do. 
But Father and son were Catholic, and all things 
were done in a good Catholic manner. 

Note.— No matter what Protestantism has said or written, ever since its 
establishment, against the holy Sacrament of Penance as practised in the 
Catholic Church, which requires a confession of sins to a priest, joined to con- 
trition and absolution, it is an undeniable fact that Luther himself believed in 
it, and defended and enjoined it, as is evident from the following passage 
in his works. In his sermon on the Sacrament of Penance he says : "Der 
rechte Weg und die richtige Weisz, ohne welche kein andere zu flnden ist das 
Hochwurdige Gnadenreich heilig Sakrament der Busz, welches Gott zu Trost 
alien Siindern gegeben hat. Da er St; Peter an statt der gantzen Geist- 
lichen Kirchen die Schliissel gab und sprach (St. Matth. xvi.) : 'Alles was du 
auff Erden binden wirst, soli auch im Him m el gebunden seyn, und alles 
was du auff Erden losen wirst, soli auch los sein im Himmel.' (The true 
way and right manner to obtain pardon, and without which no other can be 
found, is the sacred and grace-giving holy Sacrament of Penance which God 
has instituted for the comfort of all sinners when He gave the keys to His 
clergy in the person of St. Peter, and said : " Whatsoever thou shalt bind on 
earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on 
earth shalt be loosed also in heaven.' 1 ) Again, in the year 1546, the very 
year in which he died, he wrote against the theologians of Louvam (torn, 
viii., Jen., fol. 382a): "Dasz die Busz, sambt dem Gewalt der absolution 
oder Lose-Schlussel ein Sakrament seye, bekennen wir gern. Den sie hat die 
Verheissung und gelaubt Vergebung der Siinden um Christie willen." (We 
willingly confess that penance and the power of absolving or the keys of 
loosing is a sacrament. For it has the promise and faith in the forgiveness 
of sins for Christ's sake.) 

In defending himself against Doctor Eck, Luther speaks as follows (torn, i., 
Jen., fol. 341a) : " Zum andern Doctor Eck mehr, dasz ich die Reu vernichte 
und unnothig achte, die Beicht beschneide, und die Genugthuung verwerffe, 
dasz erdichtet er auf mich, den meine Bucher sagen anderst." (Doctor 
Eck says, secondly, that I do away with contrition, and consider it un- 
necessary ; that I curtail confession and reject satisfaction ; all this he 



208 



The Prodigal Son. 



imputes falsely to me, for my books speak differently.) In his sermon 
on the Sacrament of Penance (fol. 65b) he thus expresses himself : " Dasz 
nicht abermahl jemand mir die Schuld gebe, ich verbiete Werk, so sage ich, 
man soil niit all em Ernst Reu und Leyd haben, Beichten und gute Werke 
thun." (Lest somebody should again charge me with prohibiting works of 
penance, I say, man ought to have in all earnestness sorrow and contrition, 
confess and do good works). Fol. 66b we find the following passage : 
"Darurnb so gehort in die heimbliche Beicht keine Siinde, denn die man 
offentlich fur Todsiinden erkennet, und die das Gewissen zur Zeit drucken 
und angsten ; dan soil man alle Siinden beichten, so nriiste man alle Augen- 
blicke beichten. . . . Doch ist es nicht ohne Besserung, dasz man auch 
geringe Siinden beichtet, sonderlich so man sonst keine Todsiind weisz." 
Tom. i., Jen., fol. 512a : "Die heimbliche Beicht achte ich, wie die Jung- 
frauschaft und Keuschheit, ein sehr kostlich und heylsam Ding. O es solt 
alien Christen gar leyd sein, dass die heimbliche Beicht nicht ware, und 
Gott auss Hertzen danken, dass sie uns erlaubt und gegeben ist." Fol. 
513a : "Die heimbliche Beicht ist ein auffgethaner Gnadenschatz, darinnen 
Gott fiirhalt, und anbeut seine Barmherzigkeit, und Vergebung aller Siinde. " 
Fol. 516b : "Dasz wir aber willig und gern beichten, sollen unszwo Ur- 
sachen reitzen. Erstlich das heilige Kreutz, das ist, die Schand und Scham, 
dasz der Mensch sich willig entbloszt fiir einem andern Menschen, und sich 
selbst verklagt, und verhohnet, das ist ein kostlich Stuck von dem heiligen 
Kreutz. O wann wir wiisten. was Straff solche willige Schamrothe fiirkame, 
und wie ein gnadigen Gott sie machet, dasz der Mensch ihm zu Ehren sich 
selbst so vernichtiget, und demiithiget, wir wurden die Beicht iiber tausend 
Meil holen." Fol. 517a: " Es ist kein Fasten, kein Betten. kein Ablasz, 
kein Wallen, kein Leyden nimmer so gut, als diese willige Scham und 
Schand, darin der Mensch recht im Grunde zu nicht, deniiithig, das ist, der 
Gnaden begreifuich wird. Und wollte Gott, es ware im Brauch offentlich 
fiir aller Welt alle heimliche Siinden zu bekennen, wie Augustinus gethan 
hat ! O Gott! wie gnadenreiche Menschen solten wir da gar schnelle werden, 
da wir sonst mit keinem strengen Leben nimmer hinkommen. Und was 
ist's, dasz wir uns fiir einen einzigen Menschen so fast schamen, so wir doch 
am Sterben (da nicht lang hin ist) solche Scham ausstehen miissen fur 
Gott, alien Engeln und Teuffeln, da est wird tausendmal schwarlicher zu- 
gehen ; welch em wir all em mit dieser geringen Scham fiir einem Menschen 
leichtlich mogen zuvorkommen." Fol. 517b : " Die andere Ursach und Reitz- 
ung zur willigen Beicht ist die theure, und edie Yerheissung Gottes in den 
Spruchen Matt. 16 : 1 Was du wirst aumosen, soli losz seyn 1 ; Johan. ult. : 
' Welchem ihr die Siinde vergebt, dem sollen sie vergeben seyn.'' " 

In the year of his death (1546) Luther wrote in his Little Catechism (torn, 
viii., Jen., fol. 351a) : " Fiir Gott soil man aller Siinden sich schuldig geben, 
auch die wir nicht erkennen. Aber fiir dem Beichtiger sollen wir allein die 
Siinden bekennen, die wir wissen und fiihlen im Hertzen. Welches sind die ? 
da siehe deinen Stand an nach den zehen Gebotten, ob du Vatter, Mutter, 
Sohn, Tochter, Herr, Frau, Knecht seyest ; ob du ungehorsam, untreu, un- 
fleissig gewest seyest ; ob du jemand Leyd gethan hast mit Worten, oder 
Werken ; ob du gestohlen, versaumt, verwahrloset, Schaden gethan hast." 
Fol. 66b : "Thus, therefore, no sins belong to this secret confession but 



TJie Prodigal Son. 



209 



such as are known to be mortal sins, and which at the time aggravate and 
prick the conscience. . . . But it is not without amendment that we also 
confess lesser tins, particularly if we know of no mortal sin. 1 ' Tom i., Jen , 
fol. 512a : " I esteem secret confession, like virginity and chastity, to be a 
very precious thing. Oh ! it should be a matter of grief to all Christians if 
there were no secret confession, and all should thank God from their hearts 
that it is allowed and given to us." Fol. 513a : " Secret confession is an open 
treasure of grace, wherein God proposes and offers His mercy and forgive- 
ness of all sins/'' Fol. 516b Luther assigns the causes why we should con- 
fess willingly : '"That we should confess willingly and readily two causes 
should excite us. First, the holy cross — i.e., the shame and confusion that 
a man willingly suffers who lays open the secrets of his heart to another 
man to accuse and humble himself. This is a precious portion of the holy 
cross. Oh ! if we knew what punishment such a willing shame prevents, and 
how merciful it makes God in our regard, when man annihilates and hum- 
bles himself thus, we would seek confession more than a thousand miles 
off. 1 ' 

" No fasting, no prayer, no indulgence, no pilgrimage, no suffering is so 
^ood as this willing shame and confusion, whereby man thoroughly annihi- 
lates himself, becomes humble — i e., capable of receiving grace. And would 
to God it was the custom to confess our secret sins publicly before the 
world as St. Augustine did ! O God ! what rich treasures of grace we should 
receive, such as no other severity of life would purchase for us. And what 
is it that we are so much ashamed of before one man when at the hour of 
death (which is not far off) we have to suffer such confusion before God, all 
His angels, and the devils ? Then it will be a thousand times more heavy. 
And all this we can easily prevent by the lesser shame of confessing to one 
man. The second cause and inducement to confess our sins willingly is the 
sacred and generous promise of God in the texts, Matt, xvi., "Whatsoever 
thou shalt loose shall be loosed," and John xx., " Whose sins you shall for- 
give, they are forgiven him." 

Luther also wrote in his Little Catechism, the very year of his death (1546) : 
" We should acknowledge ourselves guilty of all sins before God, even those 
which we do not remember. But before the confessor we should confess 
only those which we know and feel in our hearts. That is, you are to con- 
sider your state of life according to the Ten Commandments ; if you are 
father, mother, son, or daughter, master, mistress, servant ; if you have 
been disobedient, faithless, negligent ; if you injured any one by word or 
action ; if you stole, neglected, wasted, or damaged in any way your neigh- 
bors 1 property." Thus far Luther. 



CHAPTER IV. 

RETTJRK OF THE PEODIGAL TO THE FATHER'S HOUSE. 

M A 1STD the Father said to his servants : Bring forth 
^ quickly the first robe, and put it on him, and 



210 



The Prodigal Son. 



put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet : and 
bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat 
and make merry." " The first robe " is nothing less 
than the sanctifying grace of God which Adam lost 
for himself and his posterity, but which was again 
restored to us through Jesus Christ in holy baptism ; 
and if we have the misfortune to lose it by a mortal 
sin committed after baptism, then there is no other 
means left whereby it can be restored but a contrite 
and humble reception of the sacrament of pen- 
ance through the absolution of the priest, the father 
of sinners. Protestant teaching holds that God, 
by Himself only, forgives sins and restores to the 
sinner the robe of sanctifying grace which he had 
lost by sin, according to that saying of the Pharisees : 
" He blasphemeth: who can forgive sins but God 
only ?"* The Catholic Church teaches that God for- 
gives sins on earth through the ministry of those men 
to whom Christ gave power to forgive sins. And in 
order to prove that man on earth could exercise this 
power given him by God, Jesus Christ by a miracle 
cured the man sick of the palsy: "That you may 
know that the son of man (not only the Son of God) 
hath power on earth to forgive sins," f etc. " Re- 
ceive ye the Holy Ghost (by whose power sins are for- 
given): whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven 
them : and whose sins you shall retain, they are re- 
tained." X Hence, in the parable before us it was 
not the Father Himself (if we understand by the 
Father the heavenly Father, as Protestants do) who 
again puts on the prodigal son " the first robe," 
but His servants : " The Father said to His servants." 
These servants, before putting on the first role, had 

* St. Matt. ix. 3 ; St. Mark ii. 7. t St. Mark ii. 10. % St. John xx. 22, 23. 



The Prodigal Son. 



211 



to strip off the rags of prejudice and evil habits 
wherewith he was clothed in that far country ; they 
had to wash away the filth he had contracted in the 
service of the swine ; they were obliged to dress and 
cleanse his sores, and bind up the bleeding wounds 
which he had received in his wanderings. In short, 
before clothing him again with the first robe they 
had to do all and everything which a Catholic priest 
does for a penitent before he gives absolution, and 
therewith the first robe of sanctifying grace, lost by 
sin. For this examination of the son's condition, 
this washing and cleansing and dressing of wounds, 
are done by the priests in the confessional, who are 
the ministers of God's mercy on earth. There the 
misfortunes of the prodigal are exposed, and reme- 
dies applied to every ailment, with, that first robe, the 
sanctifying grace of God, the proper habit of the 
children of God. 

"Bring forth quickly the first robe." The good 
and merciful Father cannot bear to see His belov- 
ed child clothed in the garments of sin and error. 
" Bring it forth quickly, and put it on him." (He 
does not say : / will put it on him.) Moreover, " put 
a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet." The only 
occasion when a Protestant minister puts a ring on 
the hand of any person is at a marriage ceremony. 
If, then, they claim this parable for their sect, they 
must perform the marriage ceremony on every per- 
son they receive into their church. And what if he 
or she be already married or bound by a vow of 
celibacy ? 

In a Catholic sense this ring on the hand is no- 
thing else than the firm resolution of amendment, an 
essential part of the sacrament of penance, equivalent 



212 



TJie Prodigal Son. 



to a renewal of the baptismal vow. In holy baptism 
the soul becomes the spouse of Jesus Christ. She 
vows to Him everlasting love and fidelity, as a wife 
to her husband, and he styles her " My sister, My 
spouse." * When, therefore, she leaves the Father's 
house and commits mortal sin she breaks her mar- 
riage vow and becomes a shameless adulteress. To be 
reconciled, and to take once more her position as a 
child of God and spouse of Jesus Christ, she has to 
renew her oath of fidelity to Him ; and every Catho- 
lic penitent knows well that no confession of sins is 
valid, that the sacrament of penance imparted by the 
holy absolution of the priest is null and void— nay, 
even sacrilegious — without sincere contrition and sor- 
row for past sins, which implies the firm resolution 
of sinning no more, therefore of keeping sacred and 
inviolate the oath of allegiance to Jesus Christ, to 
whom the soul was betrothed in holy baptism. 

But what shall we understand of the "shoes on 
his feet " ? They signify the special advice and 
direction which the Catholic penitent receives from 
his confessor in the sacred tribunal of penance. The 
prodigal son, having spent all, had lost even the 
shoes from his feet — that is, all the good advice and 
direction given him in his Father's house, that he 
might not " dash his foot against a stone " f of scan- 
dal that was laid in his way. In fact, they were the 
first thing he cast off as a troublesome encumbrance 
after leaving his Father's house, or, at least, were soon 
worn out by his riotous liviiig. These bare and un- 
protected feet have walked evil ways, thorny, stony, 
craggy ways ; for the way of the evil-doer is hard. 
Hence these feet need protection. Sermons, public 

* Cant. iv. 9. f Psalm xc. 12. 



The Prodigal Son, 



213 



instructions, religious books, circulating at large, are 
shoes intended for everybody, but not adapted to the 
feet of all persons. What is too large for one may be 
too narrow or too short for another ; and particular- 
ly if the feet are sore, wounded, or in the process 
of healing, they will in such a case require shoes 
specially adapted to their condition. If the shoes are 
too large they easily fall off ; if they are too short or 
too narrow they will be rejected by the wearer. In 
like manner, if some authors make these shoes too 
large for the feet of the rich and too narrow for the 
poor, they will benefit neither and lose the fruit of 
their labors. 

Catholics, who are always in the Father's house, 
under the care of His servants, the true sacerdo- 
tal ministers of Christ, have always the advantage 
of others in this respect, for they can, under 
every circumstance, procure the shoes that will 
exactly fit and protect them from defilement 
and injury, besides being a source of comfort and 
strength through the oftentimes narrow and thorny 
path of salvation. There is no doubt or difficul- 
ty in their way that they cannot get over in safe- 
ty, if they consult their spiritual director, in or 
out of the tribunal of penance, and follow carefully 
the directions they receive. For the tribunal of 
penance is instituted not only to forgive sins com- 
mitted after baptism, but also for the interior guid- 
ance and direction of the soul. "The kingdom 
of 'God is within you," * says the Saviour. There- 
fore He must have established a government to rule 
and direct that interior kingdom of man, and to 
govern his thoughts, feelings, and desires, just as 

* St. Luke xvii. 21. 



214 



TJie Prodigal Son. 



well as there are persons appointed to govern his ex- 
terior actions, which are only the accomplishment 
of his interior volitions 5 and these interior direc- 
tions are the shoes which the Father ordered his ser- 
vants to put on his repentant son. These servants 
are educated, trained, ordained for that office, like 
skilful physicians, who, having graduated with dis- 
tinction, spend a great part of their life in the 
hospitals and dissecting-rooms before beginning out- 
door practice. I am not afraid of asserting too much 
if I maintain that it is impossible for a sectarian 
minister to be a proper guide in spiritual matters, for 
the simple reason that he knows little or nothing 
about the interior life of the soul. Making every 
allowance for his honesty, sincerity, piety, talent, 
learning, and, above all, what is most necessary for 
a spiritual guide, good common sense — granting he 
may possess these qualities, he still lacks experience. 
Hence, he is like a physician who derived all his 
medical knowledge from his books, but scarcely ever 
attended a sick person or was present at a post- 
mortem examination. The soul as well as the body 
requires a guide or physician who has*practical know- 
ledge of her interior life, her maladies, her dangers, 
her difficulties, her struggles and temptations. Of 
all these diseases of the soul, the knowledge of the 
Protestant minister is confined to the experience of 
his own life, or what a few others may have told him 
concerning theirs — for nobody was obliged to tell him 
the whole truth. Thus he may preach very fine, 
touching sermons on a mother's love, or a sister's 
affection, or a father's care ; he may be well able to 
give private advice to those who are in love about 
courtship, marriage, and such things, in which he 



The Prodigal Son. 



215 



himself may have gained the mastery or was sadly 
disappointed ; but what does he know, or what can 
he know, of the sufferings and temptations to which 
different souls are subject, and which vary, perhaps, 
hundreds of times in the same person, according to 
their dispositions, time, and circumstances ? He may 
be able to judge about the state of his own conscience, 
and perhaps also that of his wife, if she is open-heart- 
ed enough to manifest it to him ; but certainly this is 
all. How many thousand sins could be prevented if 
conscientious Protestants had the advantage which 
Catholics enjoy, under the inviolable secrecy of con- 
fession, to manifest their spiritual wants and obtain 
the necessary desired direction ! 

Clothed once more with the first and beautiful robe 
of sanctifying grace, adorned with the ring of firm 
resolution, and fortified by the shoes of correction 
and friendly counsel, the prodigal son is restored to 
his former dignity, not, as he desired, " a hired ser- 
vant " (although even such a one is infinitely better 
off than the citizen of that far country or any of his 
colleagues), but as a son and joint-heir of the elder 
brother. He is as rich as if he never left the house 
of his Father ; and if he had every reason to re- 
joice at his kind reception and readmission to his 
Father's house and comfort, the joy of the Father 
over his return is still greater. His joy knows no 
bounds ; the day of his son's return is a day of fes- 
tivity for the whole house— that is, the whole Church ; 
hence the command : " Bring hither the fatted calf, 
and kill it, and let us make merry." The joy of the 
Father finds its expression in a festivity, the festivity 
in a banquet, the banquet in the killing of the fatted 
calf— as every festival day in the Catholic Church 



216 



The Prodigal Son. 



is celebrated by the offering of the Holy Sacrifice 
and partaking of the heavenly banquet, Jesus Christ, 
in the most Blessed Eucharist. 

Hence I do not speak irreverently if I say that by 
the fatted calf is understood the real Body and 
Blood of Jesus Christ. Among the Jews the calf 
was the symbol of innocence, as the lamb is with us. 
Learned antiquarians inform us that among the 
hieroglyphics found in the ancient monuments of 
Egypt, the first-born of a family was represented by 
a calf. This fatted calf was to be killed and sacri- 
ficed,, and, in its state of sacrifice, it was the banquet 
that gladdened the hearts of all the inmates of the 
house. Even to the present day, when the prodigal 
son returns and is reconciled to his Father, clothed 
anew with His sanctifying grace, he is admitted to 
the Holy Sacrifice, and during the Holy Sacrifice to 
the heavenly banquet of holy Communion, where 
he receives Jesus Christ within himself and becomes 
one with Him, as He is one with the Father. " He 
that eateth Me, the same shall live by Me."* This 
is the true way of "making merry" in the Catholic 
Church. 

" Because this my son was dead and is come to 
life again : was lost and is found." This remark 
of the Father destroys completely freedom of opin- 
ion, or the doctrine that man can be saved in every 
religion, and firmly establishes the teaching of the 
Catholic Church, that out of the true Church 
there is no salvation. For this my son, when he 
left the Father's house to go to that far country, 
was dead and lost for ever ; but now, since he has 
returned, he is come to life again and is found, 

* St. John vi. 52. 



The Prodigal Son. 



217 



CHAPTEE V. 



THE JOY EVINCED AT THE RETURN OF THE PRODI- 
GAL. — THE FATHER PLEADS HIS CAUSE BEFORE 
THE ELDER BROTHER. 

U A KD they began to be merry." The Father re- 



£± joiced in the love and affection of his son. 
The son rejoiced in the mercy, love, and presence of 
his good Father. The life of a sincere, pious convert 
is a life of constant joy and happiness, and there 
never has been one who joined the Catholic Church, 
and lived up to her teaching, that ever regretted it. 
They could daily say with St. Paul : "For to me, to 
live is Christ and to die is gain." * If there has been 
one who fell away the second time, it was one who 
only conformed but was not converted to the Church ; 
one of those of whom the Apostle St. John says : 
" They went out from us, but they were not of us. 
I For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have 
! remained with us : but that they may be manifest, 
I that they are not all of us." f No Catholic well 
instructed and living in the constant practice of his 
holy religion ever even thinks of forsaking it for 
another ; he will live and die, if necessary, for his 
religion, but no threats or promises can make him 
change. It is for him a source of joy and peace such 
| as earth cannot give nor take aw r ay. The sweet 
; unction of the Holy Spirit within him, and the 
I Divine Victim, Jesus Christ, in the Blessed Eucharist, 
ever present and accessible to him, are treasures of 
infinite value, to secure the possession of which he is 
willing to sacrifice all, even life itself, should it be 




* Phil. i. 21. 



1 1 St. John ii. 19. 



218 



The Prodigal Son. 



required. For, as St. John observes: "You have 
the unction from the Holy One, and know all 
things " * — that is to say, the true children of God's 
Church who remain united under the guidance of 
their lawful pastors partake of the grace of the 
Holy Ghost promised to the Church and her pastors, 
and find in the Church all necessary knowledge 
and instruction, so that they have no need to seek 
it elsewhere. 

Thus far our attention has been chiefly occupied 
with the younger brother, his revolt, his departure, 
his dissipation, his misery, his return and reception 
by the Father. The elder brother has hardly been 
mentioned ; and now, at the close of the parable, we 
are introduced to him also. As the reception and re- 
storation of the prodigal son to all the rights and pri- 
vileges of the children of God was an act of infinite 
mercy and clemency on the part of the Father, and 
the cause of unusual festivity in the house, as mani- 
fested by the heavenly banquet given to all its in- 
mates in honor of the occasion ; so we can truly say 
that this mercy and clemency surpassed all limits 
when we see the Father himself condescend so far as 
to plead the cause of the prodigal son before the elder 
brother, and leave no means untried to effect a recon- 
ciliation and re-establish brotherly love and charity 
between the brothers. 

" Now his elder son was in the field, and when he 
came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and 
dancing." We have already seen> at the beginning 
of the parable, that the elder brother represents the 
true and sincere Christian who always remained in 
the Father's house — that is, never left the true Church. 

* 1 St. John ii. 20. 



The Prodigal Son. 



219 



Whilst the younger brother wasted his substance in 
riotous living, and was by his disobedience reduced to 
extreme misery and want, the elder persevered faith- 
fully in the house of his Father, under the sway of pa- 
ternal authority, employing his time according to the 
wishes of his Father, laboring in the field for the in- 
terest of his Father, and, under the roof of the pater- 
nal mansion, enjoying the presence and conversation 
of that good Father; in other words, working and 
praying, but all in conformity with the Father's will. 
It was after a day's labor such as we have described 
that he came from the field as usual, and drew nigh 
to the house — to the Church — whilst the banquet 
in honor of the prodigal's return was going on. He 
"drew nigh to the house, and heard music and 
dancing." 

» What Church must it be where there are music 
and dancing ? Surely not the church of any of our 
modern sects, many of whom would not allow music 
and dancing in their private houses, especially on the 
Lord's day, for fear of breaking the Sabbath or tar- 
nishing the lustre of their sanctity. Many of them do 
not consider the church to be a place of spiritual mer- 
riment and rejoicing, but rather a place of weeping 
and gnashing of teeth. With them Sunday is not a 
sunny day, a day of gladness and rest, with suitable 
recreation, but a Sabbath more rigid than that of the 
Jews, and more terrible to the little ones than the 
day whereon Moses received the Commandments 
amidst thunder and lightning that struck terror into 
the hearts of all the people. 

As the music and dancing are going on in the Fa- 
ther's house — the Church, of course — there can be no 
question of any but of sacred music and sacred danc- 



220 



The Prodigal Son. 



ing; and tins, I say, belongs exclusively to the Ca- 
tholic Church. There is no form of divine worship 
which gives such inspiration to the artist, and opens 
such a field for the composer of music to develop 
and display his talents, as the holy sacrifice of the 
Mass in the Catholic Church. Xot only vocal but 
instrumental music of every description can find a 
place at High Mass to chant the praises of God. 
Wherever she has the means, even at the present day, 
she carries out to the very letter that invitation of the 
royal Psalmist : " Praise Him with timbrel and choir: 
praise Him with strings and organ. Praise Him on 
high-sounding cymbals : praise Him on cymbals of 
joy." * 

And as to dancing— yes, I admit, when High Mass 
is celebrated, especially if there are deacon and sub- 
deacon with a host of other assistant clergy, there is 
a holy movement or sacred dance going on around 
the altar, which sometimes gives occasion to the un- 
believer who may be present to laugh and condemn 
as superstitious those religious ceremonies of which 
he has no knowledge whatever : whereas to the in* 
telligent Catholic this sacred dance, far from being a 
cause of ridicule and contempt, is bat another proof 
that not one jot or tittle of the true manner of wor- 
shipping God is neglected or forgotten in the Ca:ho- 
lic Church. 

That under the ancient testament there was a sa- 
cred dance used in the worship of God we learn from 
the history of King David : for when the ark of the 
covenant, that most holy sanctuary of the Jews, 
"was come into the city of David," whither it was 
brought from Cariathiarim amid music of all kinds 



The Prodigal Son. 



221 



of instruments, David, the king, girded in a linen 
ephod, danced with all his might in holy exultation 
before the ark of the Lord, although Micbol, his wife, 
looking through the window, despised him in her 
heart for doing so.* That David's dance before 
the ark of the covenant was pleasing to he Lord is 
seen clearly by the punishment He inflicted on Mi- 
chol, who mocked at him. " The Lord punished 
her with barrenness." And so He punishes with 
spiritual barrenness all those who mock the sacred 
rites and ceremonies of the Church. These rites and 
ceremonies of olden times are still proper in the wor- 
ship of God ; if they were good, holy, and approved 
by Him in the ancient law, they are so still, and have 
lost nothing of their sacred character. On the con- 
trary, they received more of their significance and 
holiness in the new law than they had in the old. 
And if some people do not understand the meaning 
of all this, they have no right to mock and condemn 
them before seeking information in the proper place. 
Otherwise " they blaspheme what they know not." f 
Let them follow the example of the elder brother, 
who, when he came and drew nigh to the house, 
heard music and dancing at such an extraordinary 
time, and hence "he called one of the servants, 
and asked what these things meant." He did 
not turn away at once and ask a stranger who 
was never in the Father's house, nor even the " cit- 
izen of that country," who was the sworn enemy 
of the Father, and who, by calumnies and misre- 
presentations, sought to draw the children and ser- 
vant from the house of their Father, as well as 
to prevent the return of the unhappy prodigals, in 

* 2 Kings vi. 16. t Epistle of St. Jude 10. 



222 



The Prodigal Son. 



order to employ them on his own farms ; no, "he 
called one of the servants " of the house, who knew 
all about it, and consequently was able to give him the 
proper information. It is appalling indeed to see 
how fearfully ignorant sectarian churchmen and wri- 
ters are concerning Catholic doctrine and practices, 
how much soever knowledge they may possess in 
other respects. No matter how sincere in their de- 
sire to state the truth, or how kindly disposed they 
may be even towards Catholicity, they cannot write a 
page or say a sentence or two concerning it where an 
intelligent Catholic could not point out one or several 
mistakes — unintentional, perhaps, on the part of the 
authors, but always unpardonable on the part of 
those who take upon themselves to instruct others 
without themselves knowing anything of what they 
wish to teach. But what can you expect where there 
is no love for truth, only bigoted malice and preju- 
dice, to govern the tongue or the pen ? " Truly such 
are blind, and leaders of the blind." * 

" And he [the servant] said to him : Thy brother 
is come, and thy Father hath killed the fatted calf, 
because he hath received him safe." This servant 
spoke the truth as he knew it, irrespective of the 
pleasure or pain it might cause the enquirer. The 
music and dancing in the Father's house were no mere 
nonsense; they had their meaning. Everything in 
the Church of Jesus Christ has its meaning and was 
ordained for sacred purposes ; and to be so it is not 
necessary that it should be mentioned in -the Bible 
minutely and expressly. We know that Jesus Christ 
gave St. Peter the power of binding and loosing : 
"Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be 

* St. Matt. xv. 14. 



The Prodigal Son. 



223 



bound also in heaven." Men are bound by laws 
and regulations, and St. Peter's laws and regula- 
tions have their sanction in heaven. He has full 
power from the King of heaven to make laws and 
regulations, according to times and circumstances. 
Moreover, we are informed that Christ "showed 
Himself alive after His Passion by many proofs, 
for forty days appearing to them and speaking 
of the kingdom of God"*— which is the Church. 
Very little is recorded of what He said or taught dur- 
ing these forty days. The holy Fathers unanimously 
declare that He instructed them during these days on 
the organism of the Church, the holy sacraments, 
etc.; as, in fact, there are many things in use in the 
Catholic Church, and also retained by some ancient 
sects not Protestant, which date back to apostolic 
times, and many of these, no doubt, were sanctioned 
by Christ Himself, although the fact is not expressly 
mentioned in the Bible. And who will presume to 
say that all this is nonsense ? Christ gave to His 
Church the dispensation of the holy sacraments; com- 
mon sense requires that holy things should be treated 
in a holy manner, and it belongs to the Church to 
define in what manner and fashion — in other words, 
under what rites and ceremonies — they are to be ad- 
ministered in order that proper respect be always paid 
to them. There is nothing superfluous, nothing use- * 
less, nothing unreasonable or senseless in the Father's 
house. Whether it be ordained by the Father in per- 
son, or by " the faithful and wise steward whom the 
Lord hath set over His family," or by the tutors 
whom the Father has placed over the heir while he 
is yet young, every law, every regulation has a divine 

* Acts i. 3. 



The Prodigal Son. 



sanction ; therefore he never can be a dutiful and 
submissive child who revolts at or scoffs and ridi- 
cules what his Father ordains, whom he is bound to 
respect, cherish, and obey. 

The servant speaks the truth. He has nothing to 
hide, to disguise, to acid, or to exaggerate. What a 
pity that non-Catholics, even when anxious to know 
the truth, seldom apply to a well-educated Catholic 
priest for information ! If they consult any Catho- 
lic it is usually a poor servant-girl or a laboring-man, 
both of whom maybe instructed well enough to know 
what they themselves are to believe and to do in 
order to save their souls, but are not sufficiently in- 
structed to refute objections and cavils of controversy, 
and who, though very pleasing to God, think as little 
of enquiring what reasons the Church had to com- 
mand and teach as Eve in Paradise, before she 
sinned, thought of knowing what reason God had in 
prohibiting the eating of the forbidden fruit. When 
there is question of a point of law the poor unlettered 
man or woman is not consulted ; a learned aud skil- 
ful lawyer is sought. In sickness the best physicians 
are called in. In matters of worldly science they 
have recourse to men who devote their lives to pro- 
found study ; but if they read in the Bible that i( the 
Holy Ghost hath appointed the bishops"* (of the 
Catholic Church certainly, as there was no other 
from the beginning) " to rule the Church of God," 
instead of applying to those rulers appointed by God 
they turn to outsiders, who are more "citizens of 
that country " — farmers, politicians, etc. — than cler- 
gymen, and who, besides, profess open hostility to the 
true Church. How, then, can any one expect to 

* Acts xx. 28. 



The Prodigal Son. 



225 



learn the truth from such persons f " For/' says the 
inspired writer, "the lips of the priest shall keep 
knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth, 
because he is the Angel of the Lord of Hosts." * If 
such was the case in the ancient testament, how 
much more so in the new, where Christ said to His 
priests : " As the Father hath sent Me, I send 
you " ; f and again : "He that heareth you, heareth 
Me : he that despiseth you, despiseth Me." \ 

"And the elder brother was angry, and would not 
go in." Here our Saviour gives a lesson to the faith- 
ful members of His Church how they ought to con- 
duct themselves in regard to converts. The conduct 
of the prodigal before his return was indeed most 
reprehensible. It was enough not only to excite the 
just anger of the Father, who let him go and "di- 
vided among them the substance," but also of the 
elder brother and the whole household of God, be- 
cause the reasons advanced by the younger brother 
to justify his departure were false and unreasonable, 
and his conduct afterwards was a disgrace to the 
whole family ; as, in fact, the prevarications and 
oddities of the sects are attributed by the world to 
Christianity itself, and many who become disgusted 
with the sects reject the true Church likewise, think- 
ing it no better. In this the anger of the elder 
brother against the younger was in some sort jus- 
tifiable. But the fundamental principles of true 
Christianity are justice and mercy ; and if the elder 
brother had faithfully practised and cultivated the 
former, it was also necessary he should have an op- 
portunity of practising the latter, and thus resemble 
more closely his just and merciful Father. 

* Mai. ii. 7. t St. John xx. 21. % Ibid.; St. Luke x. 16. 



226 



The Prodigal Son. 



"His Father began to entreat him." The Fa- 
ther's charity and mercy were not content in grant- 
ing full pardon to the prodigal, restoring all his 
rights, and admitting him to the great banquet ; He 
now pleads his cause, and becomes a mediator be- 
tween him and his elder brother, so that, when God 
forgives, men should likewise forgive. This entreat- 
ing on the part of the good Father is certainly the 
climax of His mercy and goodness. Could He have 
done more or gone farther ? 

"And he answering, said to his Father: Behold, 
for so many years do I serve thee, and I have never 
transgressed thy commandments, and yet thou hast 
never given me a kid to make merry with my friends." 
The joy of the heavenly Father over the return of 
this prodigal son is so great, and He pours on him so 
many of those most sweet and sensible consolations 
and pleasures with which He is wont to fortify and 
console His servants under the trials of their earthly 
exile, as to even excite the jealousy of those who 
never fell away. 

Let us here note carefully all the complaints ut- 
tered by the elder brother, for they are founded on 
truth : the Father does not refute or deny them. 
"Behold, for so many years do I serve thee." The 
Catholic Church always served her Divine Founder; 
she never fell away ; she never acted like the sects, 
that served for some time, fell away, and never return- 
ed. " And I never transgressed thy commandments." 
I have always been obedient, as the Apostle testifies 
when he says : "As the Church is subject to Christ, 
so also let the wives be to their husbands in all 
things." * Had the Catholic Church ever fallen 

* Eph. v. 24. 



The Prodigal Son. 



227 



away or proved unfaithful to Christ, then the Apos- 
tle would have given the example of an adulteress 
for Christian married women to imitate ; and who will 
dare to say such was the case ? She was always, and 
will be to the end of time, the faithful spouse of 
Jesus Christ, He being her head, as the husband is 
the head of the wife. But not in the sense that she, 
a visible body, has not likewise a visible head of her 
own. If the Church is the spouse of Christ it is 
absurd to say that Christ espoused a bride without a 
head — a mere trunk. Hence, as the husband is the 
head of the wife, so Christ is the head of the Church. 
But if " Christ is the saviour of His body," and "we 
are members of His body, of His flesh, of His 
bones,"* this body was never beheaded, and Christ, 
being united with the visible head of that body, 
accounts for all which the Catholic Church attri- 
butes to her own visible head. Hence the charge 
made by the sects in order to justify their apostasy 
is completely refuted in the plea of the elder brother. 

" Yet thou hast never given me a kid to make 
merry with my friends." Although I have always 
been faithful and obedient to thee, I have never re- 
ceived half as much sweetness and consolation at any 
one time as I see you lavish on my unfortunate 
brother. The meaning of it is this : Almighty God, 
the consoler and comforter of the afflicted, is accus- 
tomed to reward His faithful servants in many ways, 
even in this life : with interior consolations, special 
pleasures or comforts in the performance of duty and 
in overcoming difficulties, which produce a happiness 
and joy beyond all description, and are not found in 
any worldly pleasure or amusement. These spiritual 

*Eph. v. 23, 30. 



228 The Prodigal Son. 



sweetnesses are given not so much for a reward as an 
encouragement. They are given particularly to be- 
ginners in the service of God, and to those that are 
yet weak and feeble in virtue ; although man's true 
destiny in this world is not to enjoy, but to deserve, 
to suffer, and to merit. Hence it happens that those 
who advance most rapidly in the service of God and 
the practice of virtue receive less of those sweet in- 
terior consolations, but more and more of the Lard 
bread of tears and sufferings which they endure for 
the sake of Christ ; and this latter treatment is far 
• more profitable than the former. The mistake of the 
elder brother consisted in this, that he seemed to 
think that full retribution should be dealt out in this 
world ; whereas the real reason of the Father's dif- 
ferent treatment of his sons was for the advantage 
of both, and the younger brother just returned was 
yet a novice in the service of God and an infant in 
virtue, that required to be nourished with sweetness, 
kindness, and indulgence. But the elder brother, 
being a veteran and expert in the Father's service, 
could endure bitter hardships and submit to labor 
for His sake. The time will come, too, when the el- 
der brother shall receive a just and great reward for 
his long and faithful service in the Father's house, 
all the more rich and magnificent since he has never 
squandered any of the "portion of substance that 
falleth to him," but invested all his means in the 
Father's interest — for the greater glory of God. Not 
for the spiritual or temporal sweetness which man 
enjoys in this present life shall he receive a reward, 
but for the labors and sufferings endured in the ser- 
vice of God. These shall purchase an unfading 
crown of glory. 



The Prodigal Son. 



229 



" But as soon as this thy son is come, who hath 
devoured his substance with harlots, thou hast killed 
for him the fatted calf." As the true Church of 
Jesus Christ is His spouse, ever subject and faith- 
ful to Him, the sects, her rivals, are not spouses. 
Apostasy from the truth, and heresy, are always con- 
sidered in Scripture as spiritual adultery; for such 
are only possible by adulterating the truth. How 
shameless, then, as well as blasphemous, is the lan- 
guage of those sectarian writers and preachers who, 
in order to avert the disgrace of adultery from their 
own sect, endeavor to brand it upon the primitive 
Church of Christ, and apply the name given by the 
inspired Apostle to pagan Eome, when it was the 
centre and mistress of paganism, to Christian Eome, 
the centre and mistress of all true Christian com- 
munities ! Let them only examine the text before 
us; the word "harlots" stands there in the plural 
number. That settles the question, for every child 
knows there is but one holy Catholic Church, which 
has the centre of its unity in Eome ; but there are 
scores of sectarian churches, mostly all of them with- 
out visible heads, which are sects because they have 
adulterated the word of God and did "not remain 
in the doctrine of Christ." * 

" But he said to him : Son, thou art always with 
me, and all I have is thine." What could be said or 
thought more favorably in defence of the Catholic 
Church than these words of the Father : " My son, 
thou art always with Me"? Not only for a few 
years or centuries, but always ; therefore even before 
thy younger brother left the house, when he returned, 
and ever after. Thou art always with Me, because " I 

*2St. John 9. 



230 



The Prodigal Son. 



am always with you, all days, even to the consumma- 
tion of the world." Neither is this continual pre- 
sence of the Father an idle presence : " Behold, all I 
have is thine." Thou art mine, and I and "all I 
have is thine." " He that continueth in the doctrine 
of Christ, the same hath both the Father and the 
Son." * What a difference, therefore, between the 
elder brother, who remained always faithful in the 
Father's house, and the prodigal, away from his 
Father ! No wonder the latter said on returning to 
himself: "I am not worthy to be called thy son;, 
make me as one of thy hired servants." Yes, "I have 
chosen to be an abject in the house of my God rather 
than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners." f In 
other words, it is infinitely preferable to occupy the 
last position in the true Church of Christ than the 
first in any of the sects; and, again, the Father gives 
the reason for the rejoicing in the house, and the 
difference that existed between the two brothers, the 
one within, the other outside, the Church of Christ. 

"But it was fit that we should make merry and 
be glad : for this thy brother was dead and is come 
to life again : he was lost and is found." Here is a 
plain answer for those who deny the Catholic doc- 
trine that out of the true Church there is no salva- 
tion. This thy brother, when away from the Father's 
house, whether living riotously or feeding sw r ine on 
the farm of the citizen of that far country — this thy 
brother was dead ; but now, when he has returned 
in grief and sorrow, humble and submissive, he is 
come to life again. Away from the Father's house, 
outside of the true Church, he ivas lost — lost to 
heaven, lost to the Church of Christ on earth, and 

* 2 St. John 9. t Ps. lxxxiii. 11. 



The Prodigal Son. 



231 



oh ! lost to himself, lost for ever. But now, after 
the recantation of his errors, after his sincere and 
contrite confession, I have clothed him anew with 
the "first robe "of sanctifying grace through the 
ministry of My priest ; the ring of unchanging fidel- 
ity to My laws glitters on his hand, and the shoes 
of good counsel on his feet render him ready and 
determined to tread the narrow way that leads to 
life and salvation ; therefore he is found. He is 
found, to fall away no more for all eternity ; for he 
" has chosen to be an abject in the house of God 
[the true Church of Jesus Christ] rather than to 
dwell in the tabernacles of sinners." Amen. 



SECTION XL 



THE MARRIAGE FEAST. 



"And Jesus spoke again to them in parables, saying : The 
kingdom of heaven is likened to a king who made a marriage 
for his son. And he sent his servants to call them that were 
invited to the marriage: and they would not come. Again he 
sent other servants, saying : Tell them that were invited : Be- 
hold, I have prepared my dinner ; my beeves and fatlings are 
killed, and all things are ready : come ye to the marriage. But 
they neglected, and went their ways, one to his farm, and an- 
other to his merchandise. And the rest laid hands on his ser- 
vants, and having treated them contumeliously put them to 
death. But when the king had heard of it, he was angry, and 
sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers, and burned 
their city. Then he saith to his servants : The marriage in- 
deed is ready : but they that were invited were not worthy. Go 
ye therefore into the highways ; and as many as you shall find, 
call to the marriage. And his servants going forth into the 
ways, gathered together all that they found, both bad and good : 
and the marriage was filled with guests. And the king went in 
to see the guests : and he saw there a man who had not on a 
wedding garment. And he saith to him : Friend, how earnest 
thou in hither not having a wedding garment ? But he was 
silent. Then the king said to the waiters : Bind his hands 
and feet, and cast him into the exterior darkness : there shall 
be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but 
few are chosen." — St c Matt. xxii. 1-14. 

232 



The Marriage Feast. 



233 



CHAPTER I. 

\ 

THE UNION OF CHRIST WITH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, 
HIS SPOUSE, AND THE INDISSOLUBILITY OF CHRIS- 
TIAN MARRIAGE. 

WE shall see, as we consider this parable, that it is 
the will of God that all men should come to 
the knowledge of His divine revealed truth, and par- ' 
take of the fruits of redemption deposited for all in 
the holy Catholic Church. We shall also see that 
God and His Church on earth neglect nothing to save 
all, and in what manner the generality of men an- 
swer the summons of God and His Church, and what 
obstacles they themselves throw in the way of their 
salvation. 

" The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king who 
made a marriage for his son." Once more I will 
draw the reader's attention to the fact that our Sa- 
viour points out in all these parables the monarchi- 
cal form of government in His Church — '■' the king- 
dom of heaven " on earth, which is only proper and 
characteristic of the Catholic Church. That the 
kingdom of heaven mentioned here is not the king- 
dom of God's glory in heaven is evident, for our Lord 
does not call it the kingdom in heaven, but of hea- 
ven. It was established by God on earth for heaven. 
Moreover, in the kingdom of glory there is no one 
found without the nuptial garment, as is represented 
m the parable ; but he may be found in the king- 
dom of Christ on earth, where there can exist good 
and bad subjects, good and bad Christians. 

The ^ king who made a marriage for his son" 



The Marriage Feast. 



is no other than God the Father Himself, the first 
Person of the Blessed Trinity. The incarnation of 
the Son of God, the hypostatic union of His divine 
nature with our human nature, and the subsequent 
reunion of fallen human nature with God through 
our union with Christ in His one holy, true Church, 
is a continuous marriage feast. Christ is the bride- 
groom, the Church is the spouse. As the Divine Word 
never will be separated from the human nature which 
He once assumed, so also He is wedded to His 
Church, never to be separated from her, being one 
with her not only by the grace of His Divine Spirit, 
by which we are "made partakers of His divine na- 
ture/' but also through the adorable sacrament of 
His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, by which this 
marriage is consummated ; and every member of the 
Church partaking of it becomes also one flesh with 
Him — "flesh of His flesh, bone of His bones." * As 
in marriage "a man shall leave father and mother, 
and shall cleave to his wife : and they shall be two in 
one flesh," f so also every convert to the Church of 
Jesus Christ has to love Jesus Christ more than 
father, mother, brothers, or sisters, or anything else 
which he may possess in this world, and cleave to 
Him, and, nourished with His sacred Body and Blood, 
shall live by Him. "'Except you eat the flesh of the 
Son of man, and drink His blood, you shall not have 
life everlasting in you." \ This indissoluble tie be- 
tween Christ and His Church is so perfect that St. 
Paul places it before us as the model of Christian 
marriage : "The husband," he says, "is the head of 
the wife, as Christ is the head of the Church. He is 
the saviour of His body. Therefore as the Church is 

* Eph. v. 30, t Gen. ii. 24. % St. John vi. 54. 



The Marriage Feast. 



235 



subject to Christ, so also let the wives be to their 
husbands in all things. Husbands, love your wives, as 
Christ also loved the Church, and delivered Himself 
up for it : that He might sanctify it, cleansing it by the 
laver of water in the word of life. That He might 
present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having 
spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should 
be holy and without blemish. So also ought men to 
love their wives as their own bodies. He that loyeth 
his wife loveth himself. For no man hateth his 
own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as also 
Christ doth the Church : because we are members 
of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For this 
cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and 
shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two in one 
flesh. This is a great sacrament ; but I speak in 
Christ and in the Church. Nevertheless let every 
one of you in particular love his wife as himself ; and 
let the wife fear her husband." * I have quoted this 
passage at length for the special benefit and con- 
sideration of well-meaning and sincere Protestants, 
because it demolishes Protestantism in more than 
one respect. 

Protestantism does not believe in the indissolu- 
bility of the Christian marriage-tie. It grants di- 
vorces, and allows the parties divorced to contract a 
second marriage whilst the other party is still living. 
All this is natural to it, for, in order to justify its own 
apostasy, it maintains the monstrous assertion that 
even the primitive Church of Jesus Christ did not 
remain faithful to her Divine Spouse nor continue 
always subject to Christ, and that Christ divorced 
Himself from her, and after a thousand years 

* Eph. v. 23-33. 



236 



The Marriage Feast. 



espoused a new church, or rather as many spouses 
as there are Protestant sects, each claiming to be the 
true Church of Jesus Christ. And Protestantism 
asserts that they are all good, that one church is as 
good as another — an assertion which, if true, would 
establish Mormonism and make Jesus Christ a 
greater Mormon than Joe Smith or Brigham Young ! 
If Jesus Christ had really abandoned his Church at 
any period of her existence, and, after a certain num- 
ber of years, espoused another one, Protestantism 
would then be justified in granting a divorce from 
the matrimonial tie, and permitting the parties to 
marry again during the lifetime of each other — by 
the example of Christ, but not by His word ; for 
He has said: "Whosoever shall put away his wife 
and marry another [a thing of frequent occurrence 
amongst Protestants] committeth adultery against 
her; and if the wife shall put away her* husband 
and be married to another [a case of no less frequent 
occurrence among Protestants than the former], she 
•committeth adultery."* But what if the Apostle 
sets up the Church as an example for Christian mar- 
ried women, and this Church, as Protestantism ac- 
cuses her, has been faithless to her Divine Spouse, 
would it not follow that the Apostle of Jesus Christ 
in the above-quoted passage has set up the example 
of an adulteress for Christian married women to fol- 
low ? Only believe with all true Catholics that 
Christ has never for an instant abandoned the 
Church He once espoused (and this Church is the 
one holy Catholic Church, for from the beginning 
there was no other), and that the Church was al- 
ways subject to Christ and loved by Him as His oivn 

* St. Mark x. 11, 12. 



The Marriage Feast. 



237 



body, and the sanctity and indissolubility of the 
matrimonial tie will stand as firm and glorious as 
ever. " What God hath joined together let no man 
put asunder." * 

The union of Christ and His Church was the work 
of God, for the " king made a marriage for his 
son"; and as Christian marriage represents the union 
of Christ with His Church, "it is a great sacra- 
ment/' not in the civil order, as a mere natural con- 
tract, but " in Christ and in the Church " — therefore 
in the supernatural order, as firm, indestructible, and 
sacred as baptism once validly conferred, f Protest- 

* St. Matt. xix. 6. 

+ Luther, in his sermon on Matrimony (torn. i. fol. 170b), compares this 
sacrament to holy baptism, and also to the union that exists between Christ 
and His Church. He speaks as follows : " Gleich wie das Wasser der Tauff, 
wenndas derPriester iiberdas Kind geusst, bedeutetdie heilig, Gottlichund 
ewige Gnad, die dann eben wird gossen in die Seel und Leib desselben Kinds, 
und reinigt aus die Erbstind ; dasz da Gottes Reich immer seie; welche 
Ding unaussprechliche Giiter sind, und gar viel unermeszlich grbszer, 
dann das Wasser, das dieselben bedeutete. So ist auch der Ehelich Stand 
ein Sakrament, ein ausserlich heiliges Zeichen, des allergroszten, heiligsten, 
wiirdigsten, edlen Dings, das noch nie gewesen noch werden mag, das ist, die 
Vereinigung Gottlicher und Menschlicher Natur in Christo. Dan der heilige 
Apostel Paulus sagt : Wie der Man und Weib vereinigt im Ehelichen Stand, 
sind zwei in einem Fleisch, also ist Gott und die Menschheit ein Christus : 
Christus auch und die Christenheit ein Leib. Das ist furwahr (spricht er) ein 
groszes Sakrament, das ist : der Eheliche Stand bedeut furwahr grosze Ding. 
Istdasnicht grosze Ding, dasz Gott Mensch ist, dasz Gott sich dem Menschen 
zu eigen gibt, und will sein seyn; gleich wie der Mann sich dem Weibe 
gibt, und sein ist? 1 ' (As the waters of baptism which the priest pours upon 
the infant signify the holy, divine, and eternal grace which is then poured 
into the soul and body of the same child, cleansing it from original sin, that 
the kingdom of God may exist always, which things are ineffable blessings 
and infinitely greater than the water which signifies them ; so also the mar- 
ried state is a sacrament, an exterior holy sign of the greatest, most holy, 
most worthy.. noble thing that ever yet has been, or ever can be— that is, 
the union of the divine and human nature in Christ. For the holy Apostle 
St. Paul says : As man and wife united in marriage are two in one flesh, so 
also God and human nature are one Christ, and Christ and Christianity one 
body. This is truly, says the same Apostle, a great sacrament— that is, the 
matrimonial state— for it signifies a great thing indeed. Is it not a great 



238 



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autism, which is the work of man, separates Christ 
from His Church, in order to place itself in her 
stead. No wonder, then, that it grants divorce and 
allows "men to put asunder what God hath joined 
together." 

Now, if the marriage which the great King of hea- 
ven and earth made for His Son is the union of 
Christ with His Church, then this Church is the law- 
ful spouse of Christ, whom He loves and cherishes 
as His own body. And as there can be no doubt of 
the truth of this fact, what will, I do not say Catho- 
lics or Protestants— but what will Christ Himself say 
of those who, in order to justify their own apostasy 
from the Church of the living God, accuse that 
Church, the spouse of Christ, of apostasy from 
Christ, and lay to her charge the very crimes they 
themselves have committed ? If you calumniate the 
wife, you calumniate the husband. If you attack the 
character of the bride, you attack that of the bride- 
groom. If you calumniate or insult the Church in 
any way whatever, you do so likewise to Christ Him- 
self ; for the Church is the spouse of Christ, and 
Christ loves her as His own body. 66 He is the sa- 

and wonderful thing that God is man, and that God gives himself to man 
and wants to be his own, even as the husband gives himself to his wife and 
is owned by her ?) Again, in the year 1528 (torn, iv., Jen., fol. 134a) Luther 
speaks as follows in his sermon on Gen. xxiv. : "Nu ist Abraham da ; das 
ist : Gott bestellt ihm ein Weib, und lasset es aus einem anderen Land 
hoi en, das ist, dasz, Paulus, Ephs. v., sagt : Seine Braut heisset die Katho- 
lische Kirche. Dann der eheliche Stand ist ein Sakrament, und geistliche 
Deutung Christi und seiner Christenheit, dasz wir allesammbt ein Leib mit 
Christo sind." (It is the same with Abraham. God preordains a wife for 
him, and orders her to be brought from another country. This is the reason 
why St. Paul, in the fifth chapter of his Epistle to the Ephesians, calls the 
Catholic Church the spouse of Christ. For the state of matrimony is a 
sacrament, and in a spiritual sense signifies Christ and Christianity, and 
that we are altogether one body with Christ.) 



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239 



viour of His body/'* and will never permit this 
His spouse, His body, to be slandered, calumniated, 
or oppressed without raising His arm to defend and 
protect her. ct He that heareth you, heareth Me; and 
he that despiseth you, despiseth Me,"f says our Sav- 
iour in St. Luke. And we read in the Acts of the 
Apostles that when Saul (afterwards St. Paul) perse- 
cuted the Church, and was on his way to the city 
of Damascus, breathing slaughter against the Chris- 
tians, the Lord Jesus appeared to him on his jour- 
ney ; and Saul, seeing the apparition, fell from his 
horse, humbled and confused, and as he lay prostrate 
on the earth Christ spoke and said to him : " Saul, 
Saul, why persecutest thou Me ? " He does not say, 
Why do you persecute the Church ? but Me ; and to 
clear up every doubt on the subject He presently 
adds : " I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest." J 

Let Protestants stop here and reflect a moment, 
particularly those that are really sincere and pious. 
Let them read and tremble ; for as the Catholic 
Church, originally espoused by Jesus Christ, is still 
the same, ever nourished and cherished by Him as 
His own flesh, His oivn lody, because always subject 
to Him, so He still considers every thought, word, or 
deed against her not so much as directed against 
her as against Himself ; and let such good people re- 
member that, no matter how sincere and pious they 
may be, they stand before Christ in the same attitude 
as those pious Jews of old did who, misled by big- 
oted Scribes and Pharisees and a degenerate Jew- 
ish priesthoods stood among the crowd before the 
house of Pontius Pilate and joined in the cry of their 

* Eph. v. 23. t St. Luke x. 16. 

% Acts ix. 4. 



240 



TJie Marriage Feast. 



leaders, " Crucify Him ! crucify Him ! "* They are 
not Pauls, who preach Christ, and Him crucified ; but 
they are Sauls, who persecute Christ whilst they pro- 
test against and persecute His Church. Christ and 
His Church are one. All His interests are centred 
in her, and all her interests in Him. He imparts to 
her that wonderful fecundity which in all ages forms 
the characteristic of her identity and truthfulness. 
For "the law of the Lord is immaculate, converting 
souls/' f and she bears Him numberless children, 
" who are born not of blood, nor of the will of the 
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God/' \ She, 
being the queen, obtains from Him and through Him 
all her power, sanctity, and beauty. No wonder that 
He says to her : "He that heareth you, heareth Me; 
he that despiseth you, despiseth Me and again: " If 
he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the 
heathen and publican." § No sect or schism would 
be possible if their founders and partisans had not 
lost the true idea of the character and authority 
of the spouse of Jesus Christ — His holy Catholic 
Church. 



HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO SEEK THE TRUTH AND FOL- 
LOW IT — THE GREATER NUMBER OE MEN" ARE 
LOST BECAUSE THEY DO NOT SERIOUSLY THINK 
OF THIS MATTER. 

U A he sent his servants to call them that were 



invited to the marriage : and they would not 



CHAPTEE II. 




* St. John xix. 6. 
X St. John i. 13. 



tPs. xviii. 8. 

§ St. Matt, xviii. 17. 




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241 



come." The guests invited to this marriage are all 
mankind, without exception. They were all created 
by God and destined for the same end — eternal bea- 
titude. After the fall of our first parents all were 
invited to come to the marriage to partake of the 
benefits of redemption. Almighty God has a thou- 
sand ways of inviting men to this marriage, this 
reunion of fallen man with his great Creator ; for, as 
the Apostle St. John tells us, " He enlighteneth every 
man that cometh into this world," * whether through 
His ministers or by particular graces or inspirations 
which, if followed and complied with, infallibly lead 
the soul to the full knowledge of revealed truth. He 
invites all to the marriage ; but, alas ! they do not 
heed the invitation, for the Gospel says " ihey would 
not come." Such was the case in the old law, with 
the Jews in particular, to whom Almighty God sent 
successively many prophets, and lastly His own Son, 
but the majority of them refused to come. " Again 
he sent out other servants, saying : Tell them that 
were invited : Behold, I have prepared my dinner ; my 
beeves and fatlings are killed, and all things are 
ready : come ye to the marriage." In these servants 
we cannot .but acknowledge the Apostles and disciples 
of Christ, as well as their successors. In all ages 
since the time of Christ servants are constantly sent 
out to invite to the marriage feast; for the apostolic 
mission of holy Church has no other object in view 
than " to gather together in one the children of God 
that w r ere dispersed"; f to assemble them in the same 
nuptial hall, around the same holy table which the 
Divine Wisdom hath spread for them. % Here the 
beeves and fatlings are killed and all things arc 

* St. John i. 9. t Ibid. xi. 52. X Prov. ix. 2 



242 



The Marriage Feast. 



ready. Yes, Christ, the only-begotten Son of the 
Father and the first-born among many brethren, is 
sacrificed ; thousands and millions of holy martyrs 
have died for the faith of the Catholic Church, and 
left a treasure of merits, represented here by the 
" dinner." All that is necessary to effect the happy 
union of Christ with His Church and all the mem- 
bers thereof, all that is conducive to sweeten and 
strengthen this holy union — all is ready, is always 
prepared ; from the time of Christ the table is set in 
His holy Church; nothing is wanting except those 
who are invited. 

We read in the Old Testament, in the Book of 
Esther, that King Assuerus made a feast which 
lasted a hundred and fourscore days, and everything 
there was worthy of a king's magnificence. But the 
marriage feast which Christ established shall endure 
till the end of time — a very long period to our minds, 
and yet not a day, if compared to the endless eternity 
that follows. For, as St. Peter says: "But of this 
one thing be not ignorant, my beloved, that one day 
with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand 
years as one day." * And during that whole day the 
servants of the Lord are busy, some arranging the 
tables and attending to the guests, others going about 
inviting to Ahe marriage : " Wisdom hath built her- 
self a house, she hath hewn her out seven pillars. 
She hath slain her victims, mingled her wine, and set 
forth her table." f 

If what sectarians assert concerning the true 
Church were a fact — that is, that she was invisible 
for a thousand years up to the time of the so-called 
Eeformation — then all who were invited during that 

* 2 St. Peter iii. 8. • t Prov. ix. 1, 2. 



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243 



period had a great excuse for not heeding the invita- 
tion ; for to do otherwise would be impossible, since 
they could not have known where to go. If the true 
Church of God existed but was invisible, nobody 
could know of its existence, nor testify that it 
was existing or where. The marriage feast begun 
with such expense and preparation would have been 
broken up and adjourned for a thousand years, in 
order to give place to Martin Luther and his quarrel- 
some disciples, who opened another style of marriage 
feast, not in Christ and in the Church, but in the 
flesh, only despoiling the matrimonial tie of the spir- 
itual character of a sacrament and debasing it to the 
rank of a mere civil contract. At the marriage feast 
of the Son of God "all things are ready" ; but here 
nothing is ready; every. guest is merely shown the 
Bible and told to prepare his own supper — that is, to 
make his own creed, his own religion; and whatever 
he makes of it, provided he be sincere, it is just as 
good as if prepared by the great King Himself. JSTow«, 
how does such doctrine agree with our parable ? It 
is impossible to discover the least resemblance. 

Although all men are invited to this marriage 
feast, yet all do not obey the summons ; for the 
Gospel tells us "they neglected, and went their 
ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise." 
They neglected the invitation which would secure 
for them the right and title to an eternal kingdom. 
It is this frightful neglect in the most important of 
all affairs which causes the condemnation of the 
greater part of mankind. Men hear the call, receive 
the invitation, but heed it not. " Thev neglect and 
go their ways" — the ways they were accustomed to 
go, notwithstanding that the Lord assures them, 



2U 



The Marriage Feast. 



" Your ways are not My ways, neither are My 
thoughts your thoughts." * Why do the sects differ 
from each other, if not because each one has his own 
way of thinking, and each one's ideas are different 
from another's ? Who, then, can maintain that 
their ways are the ways of God, and their thoughts 
the thoughts of God ? 

Protestantism, which has caused all these sects, 
endeavors nowadays to lull sore consciences asleep by 
the assertion that no particular creed is required for 
salvation, and that every one will be saved in his 
own sect, provided he believes honestly that it has 
the truth and its way is the right way. Now, there 
is as much sense and truth in such an assertion as 
there is in telling a traveller booked for California 
that any train or boat he sees, no matter if bound 
for the British Isles or any other part of the world, 
will bring him to his destination if he takes pas- 
sage on it and believes honestly that it will lead 
him there ; or as if, one part of an army being in 
open revolt against its general and other superior 
officers, you tell the disloyal soldiers that their con- 
duct will be just as pleasing to the king as that of the 
faithful soldiers, who allow themselves to be directed 
by their general and other officers, provided that they 
believe that such conduct is pleasing to the king. 

Again, you might as well say that all those who 
persecuted the Church of Christ and put to death 
His Apostles committed no crime, because they 
honestly believed they were rendering a service to 
God! It is true, there may be less blame attached to 
one who has been born and educated in the religion 
of some sect than if he were to revolt openly against 

* Isaias lv. 8. 



The Marriage Feast. 



245 



the true Church of Christ ; but it is likewise true 
that there is a serious blame attached to the neglect 
and carelessness which paralyze and prevent him 
from making the necessary enquiries after truth, 
especially when good sense and the grace of God 
have been operating in his mind, raising up doubts 
and serious suspicions that everything taught by the 
sect to which he adheres is not correct. 

It is true that if the Catholic Church teaches that 
outside of her pale, without the marriage feast of 
the parable, there is no salvation, she also teaches 
that, as there is but "one baptism," those who, truly 
baptized in any sect, sincerely desire to follow the 
truth in good faith, and never have sinned against 
faith, still belong to the Catholic Church. But how 
few there are among the sects who are not guilty of 
their errors ! I do not mean to say that there are many 
who actually know and -are aware that it is their duty 
to return to the Catholic Church as the only true 
Church of Jesus Christ, and neglect doing so ; but 
the greater number of those who neglect to come are 
those who are so much attached to going their own 
way, no matter what way it may be or where it may 
lead, that they do not take the time or the trouble 
to enquire seriously, Is this the way that will lead 
me to life everlasting ? Am I on the safe path ? Is 
there no possibility of a mistake ? Hence they neg- 
lect and go their way. The affairs of the immortal 
soul are considered by them as a mere secondary 
matter. The universally-attested fact that God has 
given a law T for all men without exception should of 
itself be sufficient to attract and engage the serious 
attention of every man, and to lead him to enquire, 
What is this law ? Where shall I find it ? It is 



246 



The Marriage Feast. 



God who commands me, and sound reason dictates 
that I should obey Him before any one else. If I 
live in a country I must obey the laws of that coun- 
try; and if I transgress the laws and live without 
caring to know what is right and what is wrong, 
merely because such is my will and pleasure, and I 
find it too troublesome to enquire concerning the 
laws, will my ignorance in this case excuse me, par- 
ticularly when there are authorities at hand to ex- 
pound and enforce the laws ? 

Neither am I excused by the fact that there are 
many false religions and counterfeit churches. This 
is precisely the reason that should stimulate me to 
seek and find out the truth, and cause me to be very 
careful in this respect. When there are counterfeit 
bank-notes in circulation people are very careful that 
they may not be deceived and receive false money for 
good ; and no one would excuse the man who had 
much to do with money matters and neglected to find 
out how a counterfeit note could be distinguished 
from one that was genuine, receiving all that were 
offered him without taking the trouble to .discover 
whether they were good or bad. It is the same in 
matters of religion ; the endeavor to find out the 
truth would require more time and application than 
those persons are accustomed to bestow on their 
spiritual affairs. They have been members of this 
or that denomination so long a time, and would 
not like to change. So far they have gone on easy 
enough; what they know of the law of God is al- 
ready more than sufficient — sometimes more than 
they are willing to obey ; so they think there is no 
use in enquiring after other obligations. Eeligious 
controversy is always unpleasant ; there is sometimes 



The Marriage Feast. 



247 



too much animosity on both sides, one detesting the 
reputed errors of the other, perhaps even detesting 
the persons who broach these errors. And thus men 
are too fond of peace to wage war even against the 
devil. They advocate a kind of charity which would 
not say a word for fear of giving offence, even 
though thousands and millions go to perdition. 
And when they come in contact with a man not 
governed by human respect, one noble enough to 
speak the truth and call things by their proper 
names — consequently differently from what they 
have been accustomed to call them — " they neglect 
and go their ways." 

Oh ! what frightful misery follows this neglect of 
God's invitation, and how few there are not guilty 
of it. And still it is God that invites ; it is God 
that calls them to be united to His only-begotten 
Son in His holy Church, to the everlasting mar- 
riage feast which begins on earth and shall continue 
in heaven for all eternity. 

"They neglected," as the Scripture says, "and 
went their ways, one to his farm, another to his 
merchandise." They had too much to do with their 
temporal affairs to pay attention to the invitations of 
God. Some have brought forward an objection that 
if the Catholic religion were carried out generally 
and to its full perfection, commerce and other tem- 
poral concerns would suffer ; men would be too spi- 
ritual and give too much time to preparation for the 
next life, and so neglect their temporal prosperity. 
But what of this ? Would men be less happy if they 
"sought before all the kingdom of God and His jus- 
tice " ? * Would not " the rest be given " to them ? 

* St. Matt. vi. 33. 

\ 



24:8 



Tlie Marriage Feast. 



If, indeed, sectarianism is more favorable to tempo- 
ral gain, is it not evident that with the sects man is 
more exposed to neglect the call of divine grace and 
go his own way rather than the way of God ? And 
which should a rational being prefer, to gain the 
riches of earth and lose heaven, or gain heaven, 
which he shall enjoy eternally, and have less of earth- 
ly goods, which are of little value, since, whether 
we will it or not, we shall leave them all some day ? 

I am not astonished to see sectarian countries pos- 
sess more of this world's wealth than good Catholic 
countries, for it is rather a fact that testifies in favor 
of the Catholic Church than otherwise. The Scrip- 
ture condemns riches in many places, and pur Lord 
Jesus Christ Himself, when He came on earth, chose 
the state of poverty and suffering in preference to 
riches, and counsels all who desire a life of perfec- 
tion to "sell what they have and give to the poor." 
And, again, we see that rich men are but too often 
the poorest Christians ; hence among Catholics pov- 
erty is considered a proof of the truthfulness of their 
Church rather than an objection against it. "The 
poor have the Gospel preached to them." * Let the 
rich sectarian read: "The poor you have always 
with you." f " Woe to you that are rich, because you 
have your consolations !" J "Blessed are the poor 
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." § 
"It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of 
a needle than for a rich man to enter into the king- 
dom of heaven." || " They that will become rich fall 
into temptation, and into the snares of the devil, and 
into many unprofitable and hurtful desires which 

* St. Luke vii. 22. t St. Matt. xxvi. 11. $ St. Luke vi. 24. 
§ St. Matt. v. 3. | St. Luke xviii. 25. 



4 



The Marriage Feast. 



249 



drown men into destruction and perdition." * If, 
then, the poverty of Christ, which has always been 
and is still considered a virtue in the Catholic 
Church, is condemned and proscribed among the 
sects, is it not evident, from the texts above quoted, 
that the characteristic and true spirit of Jesus Christ 
is .with the Catholic Church, and that the more the 
sects are estranged from the Church the more they 
go after the riches and comforts of this life ? If 
even in the true Church " they that will become rich 
fall into temptation and the snares of the devil," etc., 
how much more out of it, especially when flattering 
themselves that it is enough for them to believe in 
the Lord Jesus Christ, as they say — or, in other 
words, to 'say, "Lord, Lord," no matter what reli- 
gion they profess or how they live ! 

All those who were invited acknowledged Him as 
their King, but did not obey Him. Yes, even 
though the King insists, and continues to send ser- 
vants to invite them to the marriage, what do they 
do ? tfA And the rest laid hands on his servants, and 
having treated them contumeliously, put them to 
death." It is not the servants of the good King 
that thus ill-treated "the rest" of them that were 
invited, but they themselves were ill-treated by those 
they were sent to invite. Open the pages of history, 
and you will see that not only Jews and pagans per- 
secuted and put to death the servants of the great 
King — that is, the ministers of the true Church — 
but every heresy and every sect, as soon as it attained 
a foothold, was always aggressive. As long as they 
were in the minority they complained about oppres- 
sion, and confined their attacks to reviling and slan- 

* 1 Tim. vi. 9. 



250 



The Marriage Feast. 



dering the Church and her ministers, holding her 
responsible for every scandal that occurred within 
her fold which she herself condemned and deplored 
but could not prevent ; but once sufficiently strong 
in numbers, they resorted to violence, seizing 
churches and church property founded by Catholics 
for Catholic purposes, forcing the Catholic popula- 
tion, if strong enough, to self-defence in order to 
protect their lives and property. Xo wonder, then, 
that Catholic sovereigns and commonwealths, which 
from the time of their conversion to Christianity 
had adopted the Christian law as the common Jaw of 
the land, even in the civil order, passed stringent 
laws against the founders of heresies and their abet- 
tors, and inflicted the severest penalties on them, not 
only as rebels against the law of God, but also as rebels 
and felons against the supreme law of the land and as 
disturbers of the public peace. In those clays the 
state did not consider itself atheistical but Christian ; 
it knew of no Christianity which was not Catholic, 
and also knew that what was Catholic was true and 
sacred, and whatever opposed Catholicity was false, 
wicked, and heretical, and that heresy was a crime 
against the state as well as against God. Even then, 
however, as long as a dissenter kept his opinions to 
himself and made no efforts to spread them he was 
not molested ; but as soon as he commenced to sound 
the tocsin of rebellion against the Church as well as 
against the state, and strove to draw disciples after 
him, he was at once marked out as a wolf in sheep's 
clothing, and pursued as an enemy of the peace in 
Church and state. The Church and state united 
their efforts to guard and defend those who had 
already followed the summons of the great King and 



The Marriage Ftast. 



251 



eutered the hall of the marriage feast. Like faithful 
stewards and sentinels, they kept a watchful eye over 
the guests, that no mischievous outsiders should mo- 
lest them, nor any domestic or secret enemy of the 
King's Son disturb their peace, as the one who en- 
tered without the wedding garment. This opposi- 
tion to sectarianism and unbelief on the part of the 
true Church is but the natural consequence of the 
Spirit of truth ever abiding with her, the infallible 
teacher appointed by Jesus Christ, who gave her 
not only the dead letter of the written word of God, 
but also the spirit and true meaning of it, that she 
might teach all nations. 

There is an immense difference between the Catho- 
lic Church and her rivals, the sects. The Catholic 
Church repeats with every doctrine she proposes to 
our belief the words of the Divine Saviour Himself : 
"My doctrine is not Mine but His that sent Me." * 
Not so with the founder of a sect ; he must say : 
"My doctrine is my own, even if couched in the 
words of Scripture ; no one before me ever took'it in 
this sense, and that it is to be taken in such a sense 
is my own doctrine.'' Those who follow him may 
say : "My doctrine is not my own," while they can- 
not add, "but God the Father's, who hath sent me." 
They must say instead : It is Martin Luther's, 
Calvin's, Wesley's, or whoever he be that formed the 
sect to which they belong. 

It is remarkable what a powerful weapon these so- 
called Reformers found in reviling not only the Ca- 
tholic Church, which they hated in common, but 
also each other. If you believe what Martin Luther 
says in his private correspondence, then Calvin is in 

* St. John vii. 16. 



252 



The Marriage Feast. 



liell ; and if you prefer to believe Calvin, his sincere 
conviction is that Luther is in hell. It is also a well- 
known fact that Luther, in his invectives against the 
Pope and the Catholic hierarchy, has enriched the 
German language with at least a hundred abusive 
words of his own fabrication ; while there is not an 
abusive word in the ancient classics which Calvin, 
Who wrote in Latin, has not preserved to posterity 
in his writings against the Catholic Church. The 
farther they advanced on the road of "reformation " 
the more abusive their language became. And we 
regret to see, even in our own age of refinement, that 
their disciples are not behind their masters in this 
respect. The best Protestant writers, who aim at 
purity of language and elegance of style, do not dis- 
dain to use the words "Popery/' " Papistical," 
"Popish," f * Romanist, * "Romish," etc., although 
they are abusive and not even correct English. They 
are afraid of losing their Protestant caste and ap- 
proaching too near the Catholic truth, if they call 
Catholic things by their proper Catholic names. 
Truth has no need of reviling and misrepresent- 
ing her adversaries. She has but to show herself, 
in her own heavenly beauty and majesty, to those 
who seek and love her, and all misconceptions and 
misrepresentations vanish as smoke, and are dissolved 
by the brightness of her presence as the snow-flake 
before the meridian sun. And I am quite convinced 
that if the Catholic truth was represented to the 
American people as it really is there would in a short 
time be very few Protestants in the country. Xo 
doubt there would be some, who "love darkness bet- 
ter than light," * who would shut their eyes, as the 

* St, John iii. 19. 



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253 



Pharisees of old did, that they might not see. When 
the rocks burst asunder, when the orb of light hid 
itself and mourned in darkness the awful scene of 
Calvary, when the dead came forth from the dream- 
less slumber of the tomb and the veil of the temple 
was torn in two, still the obstinate Pharisees shook 
their heads and said, " An impostor" ! 

Alas ! the vast majority of our honest-minded 
American people only know the Catholic Church 
from hearsay ; from the misrepresentations and cal- 
umnies heaped upon her during the last three centu- 
ries ; and they neglect taking the trouble and time to 
examine the other side of the question. As the well- 
meaning and simple Jews were misled by bigoted 
Pharisees and doctors of the law, who searched the 
Scriptures, thinking by this means alone to find life 
everlasting, and yet could not see that these Scrip- 
tures gave testimony to Jesus Christ, the living in- 
terpreter of the law, so our non-Catholic American 
friends are misled and made to think that they be- 
lieve and practise what the Bible teaches ; whereas, 
in reality, they believe in the word of their preach- 
ers and of the founders of their sect rather than in 
the words of Jesus Christ recorded in the Bible. 
Any well-instructed Catholic can show them, by the 
very words of the Bible which they profess to under- 
stand and obey, that it is the Catholic Church alone, 
"the pillar and ground of truth/'* that rightly un- 
derstands and obeys the Bible, and that in this 
Church we are to believe according to the Apostles' 
Creed as firmly as we believe in God the Father, God 
the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. 

"But when the king heard of it," as he necessa- 

* 1 Tim. iii. 15. 



254 



TJie Marriage Feast. 



rily hears all things, "he was angry"; and, indeed, 
he had reason to be so, for inculpable or invincible 
ignorance may excuse a person, but neglect, wilful 
error, calumny, and slander never. No matter how 
much persons may be opposed to each other in their 
religious views and ideas, the commandment of God, 
which says " Thou shalt not bear false witness against 
thy neighbor,*' comprises all, even our most bitter, 
enemies, whom we may fight with the fair weapons 
of truth and justice, but never with misrepresenta- 
tions, lies, and calumnies.* 



IT IS ^OT SUFFICIENT FOR SALVATION TO BE NO- 
MINALLY MEMBERS OF THE TRUE CHURCH — REA- 
SONS WHY MANY ARE CALLED BUT FEW ARE 
. CHOSEN. 

A ND sending his armies he destroyed those mur- 



derers, and burnt their city." This punish- 
ment was literally fulfilled with respect to the Jews, 
who were the first to oppose Jesus Christ and His 
holy Church ; but it will be spiritually fulfilled with 
respect to all those who oppress the Church of God. 

* Luther in his writings passes sentence on himself (torn, i., Jena, fol. 
423a) : " Wer nu einmahl leugt, der ist gewiszlich nicht aus Gott, und ver- 
dachtig in alien Dingen." And in fol. 868b he says : " Wan ich einmahl so 
gelogen, und so grob genarrt erfunden wiirde, so ware alle meine Lehr and 
Ehr, Glaub und Treu gantz aus. Jedermann wiirde mich fur einen Buben, 
und ehrlosen Bosewicht (wie billig) halten." (Whoever is guilty of one lie 
is certainly not of God, and suspected in all other matters. Again he writes: 
" If I had been so grossly foolish as to lie once, it would be all over with 
my doctrine and honor, faith and fidelity. Every one [as it is becoming] 
would hold me for a scoundrel and dishonest knave.") 



CHAPTER III. 




The Marriage Feast. 



255 



Our Lord calls them "murderers," because they kill 
souls by depriving them of the spiritual life of grace, 
and whatever city they build to themselves in oppo- 
sition to the city of God— the true Church of Christ, 
built on a high mountain; for, as the Psalmist ob- 
serves : "The foundations thereof are in the holy 
mountains 99 *• — that city shall be burnt, and " they 
themselves shall have their part with the unbe- 
lievers. " f 

"Then the king said to his servants: The mar- 
riage indeed is ready, but they that were invited 
were not worthy." Mark well these words, "The 
marriage indeed is ready " ; all is prepared, the 
means to "have eternal life, and to have it more 
abundantly," J are always at hand in the King's ban- 
quet-ball, the Church; but "they that were in- 
vited were not worthy." They neglected, they de- 
spised ; they went their own ways, and would not 
even take the trouble to come- and see what was pre- 
pared for them. No wonder that " they were not 
worthy." " Go ye therefore into the highways, and as 
many as you shall find call to the marriage." When 
the Jews refused to answer the invitation of God He 
sent His Apostles to the Gentiles, and they obeyed 
the summons and were admitted to the marriage- 
feast. If we cast a glance over the history of the 
Church we find a remarkable fact : that whenever 
some great heresy or schism arose, carrying off many 
of her wayward and unfaithful children, Almighty 
God made up for the loss by the conversion of 
other nations in some other part of the world ; thus 
the crown and the right to a heavenly inheritance 
which they forfeited were awarded to another. Even 

* Ps. lxxxvi. 1. t St. Luke xii. 46. X St. John x. 10. 



256 



The Marriage Feast. 



after the so-called Reformation of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, in which the Church of God lost so many mil- 
lions of her children in Europe, her banquet-hall 
was immediately filled by other nations that joyfully 
accepted the light of the true faith in Asia, Africa, 
and America; so much so that at the end of the 
last century, according to authentic statistics, there 
was found an increase of two-thirds of the number 
which she contained before the Reformation. "The 
law of the Lord is immaculate, converting souls."* 

"And," we are told, "his servants going forth 
into the ways, gathered together all that they found, 
both good and bad." Behold another refutation of 
heresy, which maintains that the true Church of 
God should comprise none but good men — the elect 
of God ! As long as the true Church lasts on earth 
— and it will exist there till the end of time — it 
shall consist of good and lad men; "and the mar- 
riage was filled with guests." Such is the state of 
the Church from first to last. Men are continually 
invited ; those who answer the call enter the Church, 
and will continue to do so until "the marriage is 
filled with guests" — that is to say, until the number 
of those fit to be chosen is complete ; then comes 
the end of the world. 

"And the king went in to see the guests." On 
the terrible day of the last and general judgment 
the mighty King Himself will come in great power 
and majesty to see every one in particular as he 
really is, and not as he feigns to be. Then shall 
the secrets of hearts be revealed to the assembled 
universe, and the brightness of His coming discover 
the folly of misspent lives. 

* Ps. xviii. 8s 



The Marriage Feast. 



257 



" And he saw a man who had not on a wedding 
garment.' 5 By this wedding garment is signified the 
sanctifying grace of God, which, in the parable of 
the prodigal son, was represented by the " first robe." 
Our Saviour here teaches us that in order to appear 
agreeable in His eyes at this marriage feast of His 
Church, we must be clothed in the garment of sanc- 
tification by means of the holy sacraments which 
we receive through His priests of the true Church, 
after we have laid aside the filthy rags of iniquity 
which we wore while erring on the highways and by- 
ways of sin ; and, therefore, that it avails us no- 
thing to have listened to the summons and come to 
the marriage — yea, even to have entered the hall and 
been among the guests — in other words, it will avail 
us nothing to be members of the true Church, if we 
are not faithful, worthy members, and live in the 
state of sanctity which is endowed with the sanctify- 
ing grace of God. 

" And the king said to him : Friend, how earnest 
thou hither not having on a wedding garment ? But 
he was silent." If what Calvin teaches were true, 
that every man is preordained by God either for sal- 
vation or final perdition, independently of his good 
or bad actions, then the king in the parable had no 
need of asking such a question, nor the man to be si- 
lent and confounded. For if God preordains every- 
thing which He foresees, and is Himself the origin of 
the event, then the man could have replied : "It is 
thou, great king ! that hast brought me here in 
this condition in which thou seest me. Thou hast 
foreseen that I would come here, and I could not 
avoid coming. Thou hast foreseen and preordained 
that I should be without a wedding garment at the 



258 



The Marriage Feast. 



time of Thy arrival. I could not help it. I never 
received it from Thee, and had no means to procure 
it. But if, notwithstanding Thy divine foresight, I 
am the author of my own actions, so that if I would 
omit the act Thou wouldst never foresee it, then, 
Lord ! I must confess that I came here as an intruder, 
unfit and unworthy to be found amongst the guests. 
I might have obtained the "wedding garment" 
from the ministers of Thy house, who are the "dis- 
pensers of the mysteries of God." * These mysteries, 
Thy sacraments, I could have obtained from the 
priests of the new law, successors to the Apostles, to 
whom Jesus Christ gave the power of binding and 
loosing, of forgiving sins and retaining them. Even 
if I was a sinner and wore the garment of iniquity I 
could have washed it in the Blood of the Lamb, and 
obtained pardon and grace through the ministry of 
those to whom Thou hast "given the ministry of rec- 
onciliation," f who would have restored to me, at any 
time I had chosen, this wedding garment which alone 
gives access to the nuptials of the Lamb. I found 
everything ready for the marriage ; but, alas ! I neg- 
lected, I disregarded. Even in the house of God I 
have done evil, and wanted to go my own ways, 
though they were not the ways of God. I have no 
excuse to make, great King ! nothing to plead in 
my favor. I have forfeited Thy friendship, forfeited 
my place amongst the blessed inhabitants of heaven ; 
I am lost, lost for ever, through my own fault ! I see 
all the worthy guests present clothed in the same 
w r edding garment, the same grace of faith, hope, 
and charity. They all think and will the self-same 
things ; I alone differ. I may have faith, I may 

* 1 Cor. iv, 1. t 2 Cor. v. 18, 



The Marriage Feast. 



259 



have hope, but I have not charity ; perhaps I have 
lost all the three divine virtues of faith, hope, and 
charity. I stand here covered with the garment of 
iniquity ; how can I remain here or be considered 
worthy to stand an instant in this august and holy 
assembly ? Thus would he speak who is found with- 
out the "wedding garment" ; but in presence of the 
truth so plainly set before him he must be silent. 

"Then the king said to the waiters: Bind his 
hands and feet" — the hands that worked iniquity, 
even in the house of God, and the feet that went 
their own ways without paying attention to my direc- 
tion — "and cast him into exterior darkness." Up to 
this time he lived in the house of God, surrounded 
by lights and graces ; the halls of the marriage feast 
were sufficiently illuminated for him to see how un- 
becoming it was that he, a child of God, a guest of 
the great King, should appear in such an assembly 
without a wedding garment — alas ! even clad in the 
disgusting garment of sin. But, though he was 
externally surrounded by light, his whole interior 
was filled with darkness which would admit of no 
light ; he loved darkness rather than light ; now 
"cast him into exterior darkness." Oh! what a 
change will be wrought in and about him when that 
last dread sentence of the great King is passed upon 
him. His interior darkness shall be changed into 
interior light, for he shall see then — alas ! too late 
— what things were for his salvation and what unto 
his condemnation : and the exterior light which 
surrounded him while living in the bosom of God's 
Church on earth shall give place to exterior dark- 
ness in an eternal hell where all is dark and gloomy, 
and where no ray of hope or light shall ever enter to 



260 



The Marriage Feast. 



console or comfort him. Nothing but gloom and 
dark despair reign throughout the Yast caverns of 
the infernal abyss to which he is consigned, and, 
God ! the writhing anguish of his soul on its first 
entering hell ! 

" There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth " 
■ — weeping scalding, fiery tears over his frightful for- 
getfulness of God's mercies, and gnashing his teeth 
over the perversity and levity with which he treated 
the divine truth that was given to sanctify and save 
him. Many there are in our days of little faith who, 
unwilling to acknowledge the truth which God 
teaches by His holy Church, or not willing to live 
up to her teaching, endeavor to beguile themselves 
into the belief that there is no hell, at least no eter- 
nal hell; that only temporary punishment awaits 
the sinner ; but in vain. What will it avail a man 
to persuade himself during life that there is no eter- 
nal punishment, when this denial will not save him 
from the "everlasting burnings/' * or prevent "the 
Lord from executing judgment on his ungodliness " ? f 
Deny the eternity of hell and you deny the Scrip- 
tures, for you put an end to that exterior darkness ; 
there would be one ray of hope left to the unfor- 
tunate reprobate, that would wipe away his burning 
tears and ease his gnashing teeth, so that, by no 
means converted, but rather exasperated by long 
suffering to hate God and despise Him even more 
than in this life, he could say, in defiance of the 
Almighty, at the end of his punishment: "Sin, 
after all, is not such an evil, for I have attained the 
same glory and happiness as others who never sinned, 
or, if they did, afterwards have done great penance, 

* Isaias xxxiii. 14. t Jude, 15th verse. 



Tlie Marriage Feast. 



261 



denied themselves, and sacrificed all that was dear 
in life to the service of God." But no ! the Pro- 
phet Daniel tells us : "Many of those that sleep in 
the dust of the earth shall awake : some unto life 
everlasting, and others unto reproach, to see it 
always."* It is this always seeing and eternal 
duration of punishment which cause " weeping 
and gnashing of teeth." 

"For many are called, but few are chosen." The 
Church of God, the holy Catholic Church, extends 
all over the known world. It is, therefore, wide- 
spread enough for every nation of the earth to 
hear its call ; and were it not for the deadly indif- 
ference and criminal neglect with which people are 
accustomed to treat the interest of God and the con- 
cerns of their own immortal souls, the number of 
those that are chosen would be immensely greater. 
Even the pagan who never heard of Christianity 
has the light of reason, and a conscience which 
tells him what is right and what is wrong. But 
where shall we find the man who always listens 
to and obeys this interior monitor ? Moreover, 
besides this natural light every man receives su- 
pernatural aid and grace sufficient to save himself, 
if he chose to do so ; for, as St. John tells us, "'He 
[Christ] illumines every man that cometh into this 
world " ; f not that every man that cometh into this 
world receives, by this sufficient grace, the light 
and knowledge of the whole truth of Christianity 
with all the evidences of its credibility, but in this 
sense: that every created soul receives from God 
sufficient light to understand and practise certain 
truths which, if carefully believed and followed up, 

* Dan. xii. 2. t St. John i. 9. 



202 



The Marriage Feast. 



will gradually lead it to the knowledge of the saving 
truth, were it even, as St. Thomas Aquinas says, by 
a miracle like that which converted Cornelius the 
centurion, mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles,* 
and many others recorded in the history of the 
Church. 

And here let us remark that a man may be free 
from other transgressions, and yet guilty of neglect- 
ing to do what he knows to be better and safer, 
especially in such an all-important affair as is the 
saving of one's own undying soul. Hence he is 
guilty of resisting God. To refuse even once the 
offer of God's saving hand is a crime sufficient in 
itself to determine God to withdraw His hand al- 
together for the future from the creature acting 
thus. Now, if this is true of the pagan who 
never heard the saving doctrines of Christianity 
in detail, how much more so is it of him that has 
some knowledge of the doctrine of Christ ! A 
man who believes and searches the Holy Scrip- 
tures, " thinking in them to find eternal life," f 
no matter how much he may be mistaken in those 
things "that," as St. Peter remarks, "are hard 
to be understood, and which the unlearned and 
unsteady wrest to their own destruction," J can- 
not help seeing that as they give testimony of 
Christ, so they give testimony of only one true 
Church of Christ, and that this one Church is 
the kingdom of heaven on earth, which cannot be 
divided against itself ; a kingdom founded in truth, 
and consequently one that cannot err nor be at 
a loss to know what is truth; a kingdom founded 
for ever, therefore never to perish, but always 

* Acts x. 1. t St. John v. 39. % 2 St. Peter iii. 16. 



The Marriage Feast. 



263 



flourishing ; a kingdom which, like the stone 
in Daniel's vision, was cut without men's hands 
from the summit of Calvary, and, rolling down, 
broke the statue of Nabuchodonosor — the four 
greatest empires of the world — became itself a 
mountain, and covered the whole earth. Blind 
indeed must he be who flatters himself that the 
little, insignificant sect to which he belongs, and 
which, in comparison with the whole Catholic 
Church of Christ, appears like a mere handful of 
loose sand, is this immense mountain that covers 
the earth. Alas ! it is only prejudice and an in- 
domitable pride of the spirit refusing to make the 
humble acknowledgment, "I. am wrong," which 
lead to such a conclusion. Add to this the com- 
plete indifference and neglect of every better in- 
spiration, and you have the real cause of unbelief 
and misbelief amongst our otherwise intelligent 
people. 

"Many are called, but few are chosen." If there 
are yet many nations unfaithful to the repeated in- 
vitations calling them to the marriage feast of the 
Lamb — the true faith ; if even among those already 
in the hall of the marriage feast — among the mem- 
bers of the true Church — there are many who neg- 
lect to wear the wedding garment, can we wonder 
that the great King who invites all, and whose sum- 
mons is neglected and unheeded by the greater part 
of men, becomes angry and orders the final sentence 
to be executed on those who disobey His orders ? The 
cities of those who oppose the Church of Jesus Christ 
are burnt up and their inhabitants destroyed, while 
those who appear at the marriage feast without 
the wedding garment of sanctifying grace are cast 



204 The Marriage Feast. 

out into exterior darkness. Since they refused to 
admit that exterior light which filled the house of 
God, they shall now and for ever share the lot of 
those who lived in exterior and interior darkness, 
for they loved darkness better than light. 

Count up, if possible, how many there are who 
neglect the divine call and go their own ways, which 
they wish to justify either by the pressure of tem- 
poral business or the letter of the Bible without its 
spirit ; and how many, even at the marriage feast 
in the house of God — the holy Church — care for 
the nuptial garment of innocence and sanctifying 
grace, and you will have a faint idea of the grief 
and sorrow which filled the heart of Jesus as He 
repeated the concluding words, "Many are called, 
but few are chosen/' Therefore do not delay to 
respond to the loving call of your Kedeemer. " This 
day if you hear His voice " .interiorly, "harden not 
your hearts"; for though all are called to eternal 
glory, few are eventually chosen to enjoy it, because 
they will not comply with the obligations laid down 
for attaining it. Hence, though all others should 
neglect and be lost, and you alone hear the warn- 
ing and follow it, you have the divine assurance that 
you shall be among the happy chosen few destined 
to reign for eyer in the kingdom of God's glory. 



PAET II. 



THE CHURCH THE TRUE SPOUSE OF THE SUF- 
FERING SAVIOUR. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE PERSECUTION TO WHICH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 
IS SUBJECTED IK ALL AGES IS AN INFALLIBLE PROOF 
THAT SHE IS THE ONLY TRUE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 

IT is the decree of Heaven that no one can be ad- 
mitted to the Saviour's kingdom of glory un- 
less he has faithfully shared His earthly sufferings. 
" Whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be 
made conformable to the image of His Son, that 
He might be the first-born among many brethren." * 
" Christ also suffered for us," says St. Peter, " leav- 
ing you an example that you should follow His 
steps." f But let us hearken to what our Divine 
Redeemer Himself says on the subject. Hear His 
words : "If any man will come after Me, let him 
deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me." J 
" The disciple is not above his master : but every 
one shall be perfect, if he be as his master." § 
Therefore, to be perfectly assimilated to our crucified 



* Romans viii. 29. 
% St. Matt. xvi. 24. 



265 



1 1 St. Peter ii. 21. 
§ St. Luke vi. 40. 



266 



The Church the True Spouse 



Redeemer, to be conformed in all things to the poor 
and suffering life of the Son of God made man, is 
the highest point of Christian perfection and the 
characteristic of Christian truth. 

If, then ; it is the proper badge of every true Chris- 
tian to be conformed to Christ, not only in his inte- 
rior, by believing all and the same truths which He 
has taught, and obeying His commands and ordi- 
nances by the assistance of His holy grace ; but also 
in his exterior acts, in sufferings, and pain, and per- 
secutions, in poverty and contempt, in all the myster- 
ies of the holy cross — if this, I say, be the character- 
istic of every true disciple of Christ individually, how 
much more must it be the characteristic of the whole 
Church of Christ ! For from the individual resem- 
blance of the true Christian with the Son of God 
crucified must necessarily arise a resemblance of the 
whole Church taken collectively; and if it be the 
Church which He foreknew and predestinated for the 
kingdom of glory, it must be the same Church which 
He foreknew and predestined to be made conform- 
able to His crucified Son on earth. " Christ suffered 
for her, leaving her an example that she might follow 
His steps/' Consequently, if there be a perfect re- 
semblance of the suffering Eedeemer on earth, it 
must be found in His Church. For " Christ loved 
His Church, and delivered Himself up for it, that He 
might render it a glorious Church." * And in what 
do the glories of this Church consist, if not in her 
perfect resemblance to her Divine Spouse, particular- 
ly in His sufferings ? " Every one shall be perfect if 
he be as his master," says Jesus Christ. Hence, if 
the Church is the work of God, and all " God's works 

* Eph. v. 25-27. 



of the Suffering Saviour. 267 



are perfect/' * lier perfection must consist in her 
likeness to Christ in all things. Therefore, we being 
Christians who believe what the Apostle says, that 
the Church is the body of Christ, we cannot reflect 
on the sufferings of the Kedeemer without feeling a 
deep sense of compassion for the sufferings of His 
mystical body, the Church. In fact, Christ and His 
Church are blended together ; Christ and His 
Church are one ; hence whatever Christ suffers His 
Church suffers in like manner, and what the Church 
suffers Christ suffers also. When St. Paul, before 
his conversion, persecuted the Church, Christ said to 
him : " Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute Me ? 
I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest." He does not 
say, " My Church," but " Me." " I am He whom 
thou persecutest." f Christ and His Church are one, 
united by indissoluble ties. 

There are many who, like the daughters of Sion, 
have tears of compassion to shed over the Kedeemer's 
sufferings on His way to Calvary, but who weep not 
over themselves and their children, who revile and 
tear to pieces the mystical body of Christ — His holy 
Church ! Let them now, by a careful perusal of the 
following reflections, come and " see whom they have 
pierced." J 

In my present subject I pass over the agony of 
Christ in the Garden of Olives. This agony was His 
own ; it was caused by the sight of our sins which 
He took upon Himself, and the ungrateful return we 
should make for His love and the sufferings He was 
about to undergo. No one but the God-man Himself 
foresaw these things, hence no one but the God-man 
could suffer by them. The Church is not omnis- 

* Deut. xxxii. 4. t Acts ix. 4. X St. John xix. 37. 



268 



Tlie Church the True Sjjouse 



cient ; slie does not know all tlie sins of mankind, 
nor all the evil a sin contains. She only knows that 
the malice of sin is infinite and cannoc be fathomed 
by any mere creature ; and her own sufferings she 
only knows when she has to undergo them. The 
agony in the garden, the bloody sweat, were Christ's 
own. Like a woman in travail, He suffered to bring 
forth the infant Church, which, being once brought 
into this world, was to "follow His footsteps." * 

Let ns first take a hurried view of the enemies of 
Christ who come to take him captive. They are the 
same that oppose His Church up to the present day. 
Like every work of darkness, the captivity of our 
Lord is effected in the darkness of night, with lan- 
terns and torches, the very emblems of perverted and 
revolting reason ; and, with weapons of a malicious 
will, they come forward to seize Jesus Christ — to 
put to death the eternal Wisdom of the Father, " the 
King of ages, immortal and invisible. " 

Who are they that conceive and foster this aw- 
ful crime ? I distinguish three classes of persons 
in particular, differing in matters of belief, but all 
united in the one dark design to destroy Jesus, 
the eternal Truth. 

At the head of the infamous crowd appears Judas 
Iscariot, once an Apostle of Christ's Church — the 
Catholic Church — now a wretched apostate, fallen 
away from Christ and His Church, and fallen so low 
that he is even leading the enemies of his Master ! 
Though we must suppose that when called to the 
apostleship he was sincere, he for some time previous 
to his treason continued to follow Jesus Christ, 
though his heart was not with Him ; he only ad- 

* 1 St. Peter ii. 21. 



of the Suffering Saviour. 



hereci to Him through a motive of self-interest — 
" he was a thief " * — and when at the last supper 
Christ gave His Apostles the consecrated bread, 
saying : " This is My body/' f Judas can hardly be 
said to have believed that it was His body; he took 
it as common bread, "'not discerning the body of 
the Lord," J and the Evangelist tells us "after the 
morsel Satan entered into him." § Only then, only 
after a sacrilegious communion, was he able to accom- 
plish the blackest of treasons, to betray his Lord and 
Master, the eternal Truth; and how did he ratify 
this horrid compact ? By a kiss, the sign of friend- 
ship ! fearful audacity of Judas ! " Dost thou 
betray the Son of man with a kiss ? " Judas pre- 
tends to love Christ, he pretends to love " the truth, 
the way, and the life," and yet he betrays Him with 
a kiss. To whom ? To an armed crowd that know 
nothing whatever about Jesus Christ, nothing about 
His doctrine, His Church, or His kingdom. They 
never went to the temple or anywhere else to hear 
Him preach; they never troubled themselves about 
religion, but were always on the alert to commit 
deeds of violence, to create disturbance and riots. 
Hence it was that when our blessed Lord came 
forward to meet them, and asked," Whom seek ye ? " 
they knew Him not until Jesus repeatedly told them, 
tc I am He " || — so difficult was it for those unbe- 
lievers to know the Divine Truth which they came 
to attack. 

Behind this vile, ignorant rabble follow the Scribes 
and Pharisees, who searched the Scriptures in vain, 
thinking thereby to be saved, while they could not 



* St. John xii. 6. t St. Luke xxii. 19. $ 1 Cor. xi. 29. 
§ St. John xiii. 27. Ibid, xviii. 4. 



270 The Church the True Spouse 



see that they testified to Jesus Christ and His doc- 
trine. In vain had they labored to entangle Him in 
His speech by asking Him questions ; in vain had 
they recourse to slander and calumny in order to put 
down His au hority amongst the people. The only 
means now left them to oppress Jesus Christ and His 
Church was not the power of truth and fair justice, 
but the weapons of violence and injustice. They 
were the majority; they had men in authority to 
uphold them ; Judas was ready and willing to betray 
his Master; the hour of darkness was favorable; 
Jesus was alone, the Apostles timid and asleep ; it was 
in the dark, gloomy night of affliction when "they 
took Jesus and bound Him." * So it is with the sects ; 
pretending to believe in the Bible alone, though dis- 
senting and bitterly opposed to each other in matters 
of religious belief, they all unite whenever they find 
some distinguished apostate from the true Church to 
lead them against her. Every attack of their com- 
bined efforts is the effect of conspiracies plotted in 
the light of lanterns; and the first grasp is at the 
hands,' to prevent her from working and spreading 
blessings like the hands of Jesus Christ, that poured 
out blessings wherever they extended. The first injury 
and insult offered to Jesus Christ was to bind Him, 
who, above and before all, should be left free to accom- 
plish His work of divine mercy. Hence we are not 
to wonder at the fact that the enemies of the Church 
are always and in all places unwilling to grant her 
full liberty, though they claim it for themselves, and, 
whenever an opportunity is offered, bind her down 
hand and foot by civil laws and enactments. 

When our blessed Lord was seized in the garden 

* St. John xviii. 12. 



of the Suffering Saviour. 



271 



St. Peter drew one of the two swords he had in de- 
fence of his Master, and "cut off the right ear of the 
high-priest's servant, Malchus."* These two swords 
represent the spiritual and temporal authority of St. 
Peter. Our Lord does not condemn the use of the 
sword in the hands of St. Peter. He Himself had 
directed the Apostles that, in times of persecution 
which they would have to endure, "he that hath a 
purse, let him take it, and likewise a scrip" full of 
provisions ; for He who knows all things saw they 
would have little chance of obtaining either from 
their persecutors. And He adds: "He that hath 
not, let him sell his coat and buy a sword 99 for self- 
defence. And when the Apostles answering said, 
"Lord, behold here are two swords," He does not 
say, Throw them away, I forbid you to use them, but 
He said to them: "It is enough." f Hence, also, 
when St. Peter drew the sword in the garden to 
defend Jesus Christ, and cut off the right ear of Mal- 
chus, Jesus answering said: "Suffer ye thus far," J 
and healed the servant. He did not prohibit its use 
altogether, nor forbid St. Peter the use of it under any 
circumstance, but "thus far." And if He ordered 
him to put the sword into the scabbard, adding that 
"all that take the sword shall perish by the sword," 
this cannot be taken as a formal prohibition of the 
use of the sword, but only as a salutary lesson on 
observing proper discretion in its use, according to 
times and circumstances, since, generally speaking, 
he who strikes a blow must also be ready to receive 
one, and it would be the greatest imprudence to 
strike where resistance is useless. 

If in after-times the successors of St. Peter used 

* St. Luke xxii. 36. t Ibid. xxii. 38. X Ibid. xx. 51. 



272 



The Church the True Spouse 



the sword against some of those who had ears to hear 
and would not hear, they did so in order to make 
them hear, and to heal wounds far more dangerous 
than that of the ear of Malchus which was healed by 
Christ. 

The Gospel says "they led Him away to Annas 
first, who was the father-in-law of Caiphas, the high- 
priest of that year." The Divine Redeemer of man- 
kind was first brought before Annas, to make the pre- 
liminary arrangements for His trial; then before 
Caiphas, the high-priest, in order to be examined by 
the supreme spiritual authority. The Jewish Church 
being still at that time the true Church of God on 
earth, the high-priest was the divinely-appointed in- 
terpreter of God's law, and his decision was binding, 
even when, full of malice, he decreed tlbat "it was 
expedient that one man should die for the people and 
that the whole nation perish not. And this he spoke 
not of himself ; but being the high-priest of that 
year, he prophesied."* Behold, Almighty God did 
not permit this supreme spiritual teacher in Israel to 
tell a falsehood in the discharge of his office as long 
as he held it. Indeed, it was expedient that this one 
man, the God-man, Jesus Christ, should die for the 
people; for what would become not only of one 
nation, but of the entire world, if Christ had not 
died for us ? Such was the decree of Heaven, and 
God made use of the tongue of a sinner to proclaim 
this truth. Although his heart was poisoned with 
malice, he still held the highest office in God's Church 
and was the interpreter of His divine will ; he de- 
clared the truth. "He prophesied" therefore he 
spoke under divine guidance, "not of himself" 

* St. John xi. 50, 51. 



of the Suffering Saviour. 



273 



This office of the Jewish high-priest was ended when 
Jesus declared His divine character before Caiphas. 
For when the Jews assembled in council, and " sought 
false witness against Jesus that they might put Him 
to death, and they found none, ... at last 
the high-priest, rising up, said to Him : I adjure 
Thee by the living God that Thou tell us if Thou be 
the Christ, the Son of God."* Every one can see 
here that the high-priest addressed our blessed Lord 
in the manner and with the authority which his office 
conferred on him; therefore officially. Jesus Christ 
acknowledged this, and also answered officially, " Thou 
hast said it." This answer of our Lord is more sig- 
nificant and a stronger affirmation than if He said, 
Yes, I am the Son of God. It not only contains an 
answer in the affirmative, but also an .argument and 
proof. If thou, the head of the supreme tribunal, 
which, teaching the true word of God, is consequently 
infallible — if thou sayest so it must be true. "Thou 
hast said it " ; therefore it is and must be true that I 
am the Son of God. In this declaration Jesus Christ 
answers in His official capacity. It was now time for 
the Jewish high-priest to lay down his authority at 
the. feet of Christ, and to acknowledge Him as the 
Son of God who from that moment appeared in foro 
externo — as the true High-priest for ever, of whom 
Caiphas was only the representative. But, alas ! 
instead of acknowledging and professing his belief in 
the divinity of Christ, he is the first to deny it. 
"Then the high-priest rent his garments, saying: 
He hath blasphemed ; what further need have we of 
witnesses ? Behold, now you have heard the blas- 
phemy : what think you ?" By rending his garments 

* St. Matt. xxvi. 59, 63. 



274 



The Church the True Spouse 



the high-priest tore away (as the holy Fathers of the 
Church explain it) the Jewish synagogue from the 
true Church of God, which was then officially an- 
nounced by Christ Himself to the high-priest and 
elders, the representatives of the people. By accus- 
ing Christ of blasphemy the high priest uttered the 
first error in the teaching of the Jewish sect. The 
whole life and doctrine of our Divine Eedeemer had 
been subjected to the most severe scrutiny ; there 
was no sin, with the exception of the sin of impurity 
(and not even His bitterest enemies dare accuse Him 
of that), that He was not charged with, although 
without the slightest shadow of proof; and when, 
faithful to the truth, He maintained His divine char- 
acter, He is said to blaspheme. Is not this the very 
same treatment which His holy Church receives on 
the part of her enemies and rivals up to the present 
day ? How much time, money, and talent have been 
wasted on their part to prove to the world that she 
is a corrupt Church, guilty of every crime, a sink of 
iniquity, seducing the people ? And if she still main- 
tains her divine character and prerogatives granted 
by her Divine Spouse, she is declared guilty of blas- 
phemy. 

"Then did they spit in His face, and buffeted 
Him ; and others struck His face with the palms of 
their hands, saying: Prophesy unto us, Christ, 
who is he that struck Thee ?"* Jesus Christ is de- 
tained prisoner over-night in the house of the high- 
priest, which has become the headquarters of mis- 
belief. The Eternal is a prisoner, left in the dark, 
silent hours of night to the mercy of cruel, heartless 
ruffians ! What are they going to do with Him, 

* St. Matt. xxvi. 67. 



of the Suffering Saviour, 



275 



tlie living Word of God, the eternal truth of the 
Father, in whom they profess to believe and yet do 
not believe ? 

Having put a veil on His face, they commence 
to strike it and -ask : "Prophesy unto us, Christ, 
who is he that struck Thee ? " Oh ! it was not 
possible to strike that divine face whifch "angels de- 
sire to look on for eternity," * without hiding, its 
celestial loveliness with a veil ! It was too beauti- 
ful, too charming; it was the face of the eternal 
Truth ! And so also, I say, it is impossible to im- 
pugn the plain, open Catholic truth without first 
covering it with the veil of misrepresentation and 
sectarian prejudice. Oh ! lift up this veil before 
you strike. Cease to spit upon the face of this truth, 
and examine her divine features, whose charms are 
sufficient to convert even her most furious persecu- 
tors ! Say not : " Prophesy unto us, Christ, who 
is he that struck Thee?" Jesus Christ and His 
holy spouse, the Catholic Church, know well who 
it is that strikes ; and the heaviest blows inflicted on 
Jesus Christ in the person of His Church are those 
inflicted by the founders of religious sects who, pre- 
tending to defend the truth, misrepresent and deny 
it. Pharisaical bigotry and misbelief veiled the face 
of Jesus Christ ; pharisaical bigotry veils in like 
manner the face of the true Church of Jesus Christ 
by its calumnies and misrepresentations. It smote 
and spat upon that sacred face by all the slanders and 
calumnies it uttered, and which excited and still do 
excite aversion and horror for the Church of the 
living God. Judge not by appearances, but judge 
that which 'is just — a just judgment. \ The face of 

* 1 Ep. St. Peter i. 12. + St. John vii. 24. 



276 



TJie Cliurcli the True Spouse 



God's truth is worth the trouble of examination, 
and should be looked at as it is in reality, and not 
as it is misrepresented. 

When the high-priest lost the gift of infallibility in 
doctrines, Peter, who "followed Jesus from afar off," 
was destined to succeed to this office under the New 
Law; he was very soon to receive the same divine 
gift of infallibility. This same Peter has just de- 
nied his Master thrice, "and the cock crew." Jesus 
Christ foretold to him this misfortune, which hap- 
pened through his presumption and over-confidence 
in his own strength. A few hours before he solemnly 
renewed his fidelity to his Master, declaring publicly 
that not even death had power to sever the tie that 
bound him to His service. This sentiment was most 
praiseworthy, such as might be expected from the 
future pillar of the Church; but, alas! in this 
instance it was the inspiration of self-confidence ; 
hence his fall served to humble him and teach him a 
salutary lesson for the future, never to rely on his 
own strength, but always to bear in mind that it is by 
the grace and Spirit of God that he shall accomplish 
the great things he is destined for in his office of 
supreme spiritual ruler, held thus far by the high- 
priest. Thenceforth Peter denied his Master no 
more, for "I have prayed for thee," Jesus said to 
him, "that thy faith "—mark well, "thy faith," 
not thy morals — "fail not, and thou once converted, 
confirm thy brethren."* Scarcely had the high- 
priest exclaimed, "He blasphemeth ! " and Peter 
denied his Master for the third time, when "the 
cock crew," and our blessed Lord, being led to 
prison, looked at Peter. Oh ! what a look of ten- 

* St. Luke xxii. 32, 



of the Suffering Saviour. 



277 



derness, forgiveness, and mercy. Oli ! how eloquent 
and plainly it spoke to the heart of Peter. How 
blessed and enduring was its fruit ! But, amiable 
Jesus ! how many times hast Thou not cast this 
same compassionate glance on the many erring souls 
that deny and protest against Thy truth. One look 
converted Peter, and Peter denied Thee no more : 
he will even confirm his brethren in their faith, 
which is and always shall be the same as his ; but 
how many looks of Thy most merciful eyes will be 
required to convert the many thousands, aye, hun- 
dreds of thousands, whom Thou lookest on from 
every line of Scripture which they read, since 
through it Thou givest testimony to Thy Church, 
as every line bears on its face the Catholic interpre- 
tation, although ' 6 there are certain things hard to be 
understood, which the unsteady and unlearned [not 
confirmed in the faith of Peter] wrest, as they do the 
other Scriptures, to their own destruction." * "Pe- 
ter going forth, wept bitterly." f They go on deny- 
ing the truth of Christ, yet never weep ! 

Oh ! how long and dreary was the night which 
Jesus Christ spent in that foul, darksome prison. 
Who can recount the indignities and revolting bar- 
barities He underwent at the hands of the ruthless 
rabble that had Him in custody ? See how much 
His Church has to suffer on the part of sectarian 
and schismatical clergy, "that detain the truth of 
God in injustice," J who, no matter how much they 
disagree among themselves, or how little reason they 
have to believe they are right, combine their efforts 
to suppress the Church of God, in order that those 
who adhere to them may not become aware that she 

* 2 Ep. St. Peter iii. 16. t St. Matt. xxvi. 75. X Rom. i. 18. 



278 



The Church the True Spouse 



is " the pillar and ground of truth," * the true 
spouse of Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the 
life ! 

From the high-priest's house, the tribunal of mis- 
belief, our blessed Lord was led before Pontius Pilate, 
the tribunal of unbelief and infidelity. What jus- 
tice or mercy can be expected from an unbeliever ? 
Before the high-priest the enemies of Christ attack- 
ed His spiritual character, accusing Him of teaching 
false doctrines, breaking the law of Moses and mis- 
leading the people, etc. But in presence of Pontius 
Pilate> the head of the temporal power, they change 
their tactics altogether. Not a word is said of their 
former accusations. Here the Lord of lords and 
King of kings is represented as a rebel against the 
temporal power; that He caused seditions, forbade 
tribute to be paid to Caesar, and endeavored to make 
Himself King of Israel ! Here we see the efforts of 
Pharisaical bigotry to foment discord and jealousy 
between the spiritual and temporal powers. 

Pontius Pilate, although a pagan, was unpreju- 
diced, and, at the beginning, disposed to administer 
justice. He heard the accused as well as the ac- 
cusers. When, in answer to his question, "Art 
thou the King of the Jews?" Jesus replied that 
His kingdom was not of this world, Pilate under- 
stood at once (what many politicians nowadays 
have so much difficulty to understand) that there 
can be no opposition between the spiritual and 
temporal powers; that each one has its own 
sphere, and that, if Jesus Christ was guilty of 
religious offences, He was to be judged by the spi- 
ritual authority. Hence it was that Pilate refused 

* 1 Tim. iii. 15. 



of the Suffering Sqviour. 



279 



at first to interfere in the matter, seeing Christ 
was innocent of any violation of temporal rights ; 
for this reason he endeavored to release Jesus. 
But, alas ! Pilate, the impartial judge, was the 
slave of human respect ; hence he was not free 
to pass a just judgment and release Jesus. He 
wanted to do right, but coveted popularity, tried 
to combine justice with private interest, and conse- 
quently acted against the light of conscience, which 
pointed out what was wrong and what was right. 
He sent Jesus to Herod, King of Galilee, with a 
view to regain the favor of that king ; for the 
Scripture remarks they "were enemies before, one 
to another." 

Jesus is then led before Herod, the tribunal of the 
world. What mercy or justice shall Divine Truth 
find when judged by the world, whose maxims are in 
direct opposition to the maxims of Christ ? It was 
King Herod who murdered St. John the Baptist 
for daring to say to that adulterous king : "It is 
not allowed ! " Herod, intoxicated by luxury and 
wealth, who sacrificed the greatest man born of 
woman in order to please a dancing girl, is not 
the man to do justice to Jesus Christ, or risk his 
popularity, his wealth, his honor, or his pleasures 
in order to release Him. 

Herod was rejoiced to see the Saviour; having 
heard many things of him, he expected to see a 
miracle performed before him. This miserable man 
looked on Jesus Christ as a juggler or fool, who 
merely went about amusing people by his tricks ! 
Thus does the world regard religion. Worldlings 
look on divine service as a species of amusement ; 
a mere pastime to while away dreary, idle hours ; 



280 TJie Church the True Spouse 



a luxury to gratify the sensibilities of those who 
feel piously inclined ; a vast field for the display 
of oratory, architecture, sculpture, painting, and 
music, without any idea of worshipping God, or 
consecrating art and science by employing them in 
doing homage to Him who is their author. They 
never think that thereby we draw with joy new graces 
and favors "from the fountains of the Saviour." 7 * 

Christ is silent before Herod, and He who has 
"'words of eternal life' 5 refuses to utter a word in 
presence of this blood-stained, adulterous, and in- 
cestuous king. By this time Herod had come, as 
Scripture expresses it, to the depth of sin: "'The 
wicked man, when he is come into the depth of 
sin, contemneth." f He whose conscience speaks no 
more is come into the depths of sin ; then he con- 
temneth. But whom does he contemn ? Jesus 
Christ, who is silent' There can be no more cer- 
tain sign of a man's eternal reprobation than when 
he knowingly and wilfully contemns the truth of 
Christ announced by His holy Church ; precious 
words destined to save him from hell, they shall 
serve, by his own fault, only to plunge him deeper into 
its flames. How many unfortunate souls nowadays 
are so wedded to error and the liberty it gives their 
unlawful passions that no matter what light God 
gives them, or what argument is brought forth to 
convince them of their errors, they receive all in a 
spirit of silent contempt ! iSO wonder that Christ 
is in like manner silent towards them. " Seeing, 
they see not ; hearing, they hear not ; neither do they 
understand, " J although they maybe far advanced 
in every branch of human science. 

* Isaias xii. 3. t Prov. xviii. 3. $ St. Matt. xiii. 13. 



of the Suffering Saviour. 



2S1 



" And Herod, with his army, set Him at naught." 
He called Him a fool, and commanded Him to be 
clad in a white garment, the distinctive dress of an 
idiot. heavens ! what an insult. The in create Wis- 
dom, the Ancient of Days, is treated as a fool. And 
yet let us not wonder, for if "the wisdom of this 
world is foolishness with God," * the wisdom of God 
was always foolishness with the world ; and again, 
"w r isdom is not found in the land of them that 
live in delights." f Therefore true Christian wis- 
dom-is reputed folly by the world ; hence worldlings 
shall exclaim on the last great day of judgment : 
" These are they whom we held in derision. We fools 
esteemed their life madness, and their end without 
honor. Behold how they are numbered among the 
children of God, and amongst the saints is their 
eternal lot." % Whoever, therefore, professes the 
Catholic faith must be prepared to pass for a fool in 
the eyes of the world. Protestantism is loved and 
cherished by the world, in spite of its errors and con- 
tradictions, because it is the spirit of the world ; it 
has cleared out of its dogmas all things that are 
spiritually examined, and brought them down within 
the limits of natural reason, which everybody has in 
common with the " animalis homo," the sensual 
man, whom St. Paul describes expressly in these 
words : "The sensual man does not understand 
these things that are of the Spirit of God. They are 
foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, 
for they are spiritually examined." § It is thus the 
Catholic Church still believes with regard to those 
things which are of the Spirit of God ; therefore it 
is no strange affair that they are foolishness in the 

1 1 Cor. iii. 19. t Job xxviii. 13. % Wis. v. 3-5. § 1 Cor. ii. 14. 



282 



The Church the True Spouse 



eyes of Protestantism, as well as in the eyes of the 
world ; for Protestantism and the world are one, even 
as Christ and His Church are one. The worldly- 
minded Herod treated Christ as a fool, so the Protes- 
tant world treats Catholicity. The Church must 
resemble her suffering Spouse. 

The Gospel remarks that " Herod and Pilate were 
made friends that same day : for before they were 
enemies one to another";* but this friendship is 
made at the expense of Jesus Christ. So, also, no 
matter what opposition exists between the sects, if 
there is question of opposing the Catholic Church 
they all fraternize, become friends and are one, 
even if " before they were enemies one to another." 

From Herod's palace Christ is sent back to Pilate, 
who wished to do justice without risking his popular- 
ity. He wished to serve two masters, and failed to 
satisfy either. Instead of passing a sentence of jus- 
tice at the risk of incurring the displeasure of the 
wicked, he had recourse to a compromise — a compro- 
mise made at the expense of innocent Jesus. And, 
in fact, this is what takes place whenever the spiritual 
order comes in conflict with the temporal : a compro- 
mise can only be made at a serious Idss to the former. 
It is the interest of Jesus Christ, the interest of truth 
and justice, that must suffer. 

As Pontius Pilate would not release Jesus through 
fear of displeasing the Jews, he commanded that He 
should be stripped and scourged like a slave. He, 
the appointed judge of the land, sacrifices innocent 
Jesus to his cowardly policy. In like manner, if you 
modify and adapt the teachings of Jesus Christ to 
suit the spirit of the age — that is, according to the 

* St. Luke xxiii. 12. 



of the Suffering Saviour. 283 



wishes and passions of the multitude, harangued and 
misled by bigoted Scribes and Pharisees — you may be 
quite certain eternal truth will be stripped of every 
supernatural good, and the end will be a schism, the 
most fearful scourge that can afflict the living body 
of Christ, His holy Church. 

Who is able to describe the fearful wrong, the dark 
injustice inflicted on the Saviour by such barbarous 
treatment ? Who shall tell us of that malice which 
swayed the scourge in the hand of raging unbelief, 
cutting deep into His tender flesh. and tearing off 
whole pieces from His sacred body, so that "from the 
top of His head to the sole of His foot there is no 
sound spot on Him"?* good Samaritan! who, 
moved with compassion, hast bound up the wounds 
of fallen man, who will bind up those wounds which 
infidelity and misbelief have opened on Thy innocent 
body ? Go, then, Christian ! and say that heresy 
and schism are not crimes ; say that one religion is 
as good as another — that is, that Jesus Christ, the 
eternal Truth of the Father, is indifferent when not 
only pieces of skin and flesh but whole members are 
torn from His cherished body, the Church ! It is 
the holy Catholic Church alone that considers heresy 
and schism as a scourge. It is only she, the living- 
body, that feels the pain— not the dead flesh and 
lifeless members which the scourge has torn from 
her. It is Jesus Christ that suffers in His mystical 
spouse. 

The holy Evangelist informs us that "the soldiers 
of the governor taking Jesus into the hall, gathered 
together unto Him the whole band: and stripping 
Him, they put a scarlet cloak about Him : and plait- 

* Isaias i. 6. 



284 



The Church the True Spouse 



ing a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head, and 
a reed in His right hand." * 

Now, these soldiers were pagans, who had no faith 
save that of submission to Caesar, the temporal 
power ; and hearing that Jesus Christ wanted to be 
King of the Jews, they understood it after the man- 
ner represented by the Pharisees and Jewish priests. 
Even among pagan nations heresy and misbelief 
accuse the Catholic Church of aiming at temporal 
power, and thus excite violence against her, in order 
to prevent these nations from coming to the knowledge 
of Christ, their true King, by means of His holy Ca- 
tholic Church, where He promised to be "always, 
even to the consummation of the world." f When 
sectarianism speaks to the heathens of the Catho- 
lic Church, it is as the soldiers who stripped Jesus 
Christ and put a scarlet cloak about Him ; they strip 
His holy Church of all the supernatural prerogatives 
wherewith her Divine Spouse has endowed her, and 
represent her, frightfully disfigured, to the execration 
of their neophytes. But is she not the spouse of the 
King of Heaven, and as such can she be without her 
crown, sceptre, and purple, the ensigns of royalty ? 
Is she not to be conformed in all things to the Son 
of God ? 

If Christ is the head of the Church, He is so in 
the quality of spouse, as the husband is the head of 
the wife. But it does not follow from this that the 
visible Church should not have a visible head of her 
own, as the wife has a head of her own. Christ, the 
invisible bridegroom, is not betrothed to a visible 
spouse without a head. ]STow, the love of the faithful 
towards the Church contrived that her visible head 



* St. Matt, xxvii. 27-29. 



t Ibid, xxviii. 20. 



of the Suffering Saviour. 



285 



should wear a crown and be independent of every 
temporal sovereign. Jesus Christ intended the Church 
to be the Church of all nations, no matter what their 
manners, customs, and forms of government might 
be : it therefore must be a holy Catholic Church, 
not the Church of one particular nation; governed 
by a Catholic head, and not by the tricks and caprices 
of temporal princes, who may misuse the spiritual 
power for temporal purposes and not for the interest 
of Jesus Christ. The experience of a thousand years 
taught the children of the Church how very neces- 
sary it was for her well-being that the pope, her visi- 
ble head, should be free and independent. Hence 
a "crown" was placed on his head — a crown of gold, 
the symbol of the love and sincerity with which 
Christians adhere to and respect the Vicar of Jesu§ 
Christ. Scarlet was adopted as the distinctive color 
to be worn by cardinals, the highest dignitaries of the 
Church, in remembrance of the baptism of blood 
wherewith Jesus Christ was baptized when tied to the 
pillar of truth ; as also to remind those who are hon- 
ored with this sacred livery of the obligation they are 
under to sacrifice life and blood for the Church of 
Him who "has loved us and delivered Himself up for 
us."* The pope's sceptre is the cross, upon which 
died "the Author and Finisher of our faith." f But, 
alas ! how soon and how often was this crown of gold 
turned into a crown of thorns, the sceptre into a 
reed, and the scarlet of the highest honor into a scar- 
let cloak of mockery — not by the faithful members 
of the Church, but by unbelief and misbelief, the 
sworn enemies of the Church of Jesus Christ ! And 
is it not a remarkable fact that the fiercest enemies 



* Gal. ii. 20. 



+ Heb. xii. 2. 



286 



The Church the True Spouse 



of Christianity — pagans, idolaters, etc. — always direct 
their first attacks not against the sects but against 
the Catholic Church, and that the sects in this case 
make common cause with infidelity, aiming their 
first blows in every instance at the head of the Catho- 
lic Church ? Hence is it not evident that the crown 
which adorns the head of the Church is a thorn in 
the eyes of her enemies, and that the ruthless hand 
of the soldier is employed to strike off this memorial 
of a people's love when they use violence against the 
spouse of Christ ? Is it not precisely that same scar- 
let cloak that has been traduced by the mockers of 
truth into an object of mockery and ignominy ? And 
when they strike it is not with the sceptre, the cross 
of Jesus Christ, but with the reed of their own opin- 
ions, " tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine," * 
which they apply with all the violence in their power. 
But the harder they strike the more deeply enters the 
crown, and the more are Catholics convinced how 
necessary it is for the head of the Church to wear a 
crown — to be independent in temporal in order to be 
free in spiritual matters. 

Be not, therefore, surprised when unbelief and mis- 
belief unite, like Pontius Pilate and the Jews, to dis- 
figure Christ and His Church, and then leave to the 
choice of the multitude, already poisoned by their pre- 
judices and hate, to choose between Christ and Barab- 
i) as — between innocence and vice. When Pontius 
Pilate presented to the people Jesus Christ, bearing 
the crown of thorns on His head, the scarlet cloak on 
His shoulders, and in His hand a reed for a sceptre, 
he exclaimed, as ho pointed to the hapless sufferer : 
" Ecce Homo " — Behold the man, if it be possible to 

* Eph. iv. 14. 



of the Suffering Saviour. 



recognize Him as a man in His actual condition, and 
not rather a worm and the outcast of mankind. The 
people looked at Him, but no sympathy was aroused 
in their obdurate hearts ; infatuated by the Phari- 
sees, they shouted frantically : " Away with Him, 
away with Him ! Crucify Him, crucify Him ! " * 
Alas ! " seeing they see not, hearing they hear not, 
neither do they understand." They " search the 
Scriptures, thinking in them to have eternal life," f 
yet they see not that the Scriptures give testimony to 
Jesus Christ, that He whom they had so cruelly tor- 
tured and disfigured was "the Man" whom Israel 
expected. So, in like manner, although the Scrip- 
tures, and Christ Himself in them, give testimony to 
the only one true Church, holy, Catholic, and apos- 
tolic, bigoted sectarians have so disfigured her by 
misrepresentations in the eyes of nations outside of 
her pale that whenever anything Catholic is proposed 
to them, be it ever so good and useful, they exclaim 
at once, "No Popery, no Popery ! " — in other words, 
" Away with Him ! crucify Him !" "Not Him, but 
Barabbas." Now, " Barabbas was a robber." Who- 
ever is chosen, even by a whole nation, as a spiritual 
guide in opposition to Jesus Christ and His Church, 
is also a Barabbas, " a thief and a robber." "Amen, 
amen, I say to you, he that entereth not by the door 
into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way, the 
same is a thief and a robber." J How many teachers 
of false religions have proved themselves such doubt- 
ful characters that in the daily intercourse of life 
hon?st and intelligent men would not trust them a 
cent on credit ! And yet there are people to be found 
who believe them in preference to Christ and His 

* St. John xix. 15. t Ibid. v. 39. J lb. x. 1. 



288 



The Church the True Spouse 



Church, and entrust to them their eternal salva- 
tion ! 

While Pontius Pilate, struggling with the Toice 
of conscience, still hesitated to condemn our bless- 
ed Lord, the Jews, like so many wild beasts at 
the sight of blood, became still more furious, and 
from petitions proceeded to threats : " If thou release 
this man thou art not Caesar's friend"; * and Pilate, 
poor Pilate, with full power in his hands to release 
Jesus, has no power. He fears Csesar, but does not 
fear God. He is more anxious to retain popular 
favor, than a safe conscience, and so, as a political 
necessity, he condemns an innocent man to die 
the death of a criminal. He had asked before: 
" What is truth ? " f but did not wait for the answer. 
It is hard for the great and powerful of this world to 
hear what is truth. Pilate, therefore, went out to 
the multitude, consulted and listened to public opin- 
ion, then returned to his seat of justice and passed 
sentence accordingly. How many persons of wealth 
and intelligence approach as near to the Catholic 
Church as Pilate was to Christ ? They see that the 
Catholic Church is innocent and free of the charges 
brought against her, that bigoted misbelief and un- 
belief have risen up against her, that it is sectarian 
envy and jealousy which invented so many slanders 
and calumnies to justify their clamorous demands 
for her condemnation in the eyes of the jmblic ; but 
these good people, who see and understand all this, 
have neither the honesty nor the courage to face pub- 
lic opinion and give testimony to truth. . Catholicity 
is not the fashionable religion of the day ; it is chiefly 
the religion of the poor, for "the poor you have 

* St. John xix. 12. tlbid. xviii. 38. 



of the Suffering Saviour. 



289 



always with you/' * and " the poor have the Gospel 
preached to them." f The rich |ear to lower them- 
selves by becoming Catholics, to leave the ranks of 
those who are great in the eyes of the world and 
take their place among those whom they regard as 
the ignorant poor ; they fear to incur the displeasure 
of distinguished friends and relatives, or, in other 
words, to be no more the friends of Caesar ; yet they 
do not fear that awful threat uttered by the lips of 
Divine Wisdom, "He that shall deny Me before men, 
I will also deny him before My Father who is in 
heaven." \ They dread the ignominy of the cross ; 
and this settles the matter and puts an end to fur- 
ther enquiries. 

Like those politicians who sacrifice the cause of 
God and of truth to temporal interests as a political 
necessity, Pontius Pilate pretends to be innocent, 
and, to complete the farce of this mock trial, he 
washes his hands, declaring publicly: "I am inno- 
cent of the blood of this man." Pilate was not 
innocent, although he endeavored to persuade him- 
self and others that he was so. He had power to 
release and protect Jesus Christ, whom he knew to 
be innocent, and it was his duty to do so. Had it 
been King Herod or some other important person- 
age, or friend of his, he would have protected and 
defended him with all the army of the emperor, 
which was at his disposal ; but as it was Jesus, poor, 
innocent Jesus, a man of little consequence, as he 
thought, he did not consider it worth while to make 
any further efforts or sacrifice to perform his duty, 
and he condemned innocent Jesus to be crucified, 
imagining a few drops of water poured on his hands 

* St. Matt. xxvi. 11. t St. Luke vii. 22. $ St. Matt. x. 33. 



290 



The Church the True Spouse 



would suffice to wash away the guilt of this terrible 
crime ; whereas not even a deluge of boiling, bitter 
tears, flowing for all eternity, will be sufficient to 
cleanse the stain of innocent blood that cleaves to his 
guilty hands. How many are there who abandon 
the cause of truth — that of the true religion, the 
Catholic Church — even when the daylight of good 
sense confutes all the objections which bigoted 
Pharisees have raised against it; who "neither them- 
selves enter the kingdom of heaven nor allow others to 
enter " ; * who, from human respect and worldly con- 
siderations, remain in the state of errors in which 
they were born and educated, pretending they are in- 
nocent of them, and thus fail to give testimony to the 
truth — that is, to Christ in His only one true Church. 
Oceans of tears will not suffice to deplore such er- 
rors ; they resemble the Jews, who, misled by bigot- 
ed Scribes and Pharisees, exclaimed : " Away with 
Him, crucify Him!" although they had heard His 
doctrines and seen His miracles, and therefore had 
all the reasons desirable to believe in Him. 

Christ is condemned to death by Pilate, the tribu- 
nal of unbelief, as He has been by the renegade 
synagogue, the tribunal of misbelief ; whilst Herod, 
who represented the tribunal of the world, set Him 
at naught before his whole army. Unbelief knows 
no Church, no Christ; it allows them no existence; 
misbelief admits Christ as a mere man with human 
opinions, His Church as a human institution ; it 
denies their divine characters ; whereas the world, 
without deciding anything, considers and treats Je- 
sus Christ and His Church as playthings, invented 
for the purpose of furnishing us with a source of 

* St. Matt, xxiii. 13. 



of the Suffering Saviour. 



291 



amusement. It is only in the Catholic Church, the 
realm of truth, the kingdom of heaven on earth, 
that Christ is acknowledged and allovved to live in 
the fulness of manhood, with all His doctrines, pre- 
cepts, and counsels, with all His institutions and ordi- 
nances. 



CHAPTER II. 

AS THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST PROVED HIS DIVINITY 
AND ACCOMPLISHED WHAT THE PROPHETS HAD 
FORETOLD, SO IT IS BY SUFFERING THAT THE 
CHURCH REACHES HER DESTINY AND SHALL BE 
GLORIFIED WITH HIM. 

PILATE, having renounced his power and right to 
administer justice, yields to the will and pas- 
sions of the multitude. The sentence of death is 
pronounced, and received with fiendish pleasure by 
the multitude. Their prayer is granted, their thirst 
for innocent blood about to be satiated. The cross, 
the instrument of shame and torture, is already pre- 
pared. Jesus welcomes it ; henceforth it shall be the 
trophy of His victory over sin and hell, the badge 
of His elect, the standard to be borne before Him 
as He advances in great power and majesty to judge 
all men. 

Jesus receives the cross. He embraces it with love 
and tenderness, placing it with His own hands upon 
His bleeding and mangled shoulders ! If the holy 
Apostle St. Andrew, as it is related in the history of 
his martyrdom, was so overjoyed at the sight of the 
cross on which he w r as to die that he cried out : 
"Hail, precious cross, so long desired, and at last 



292 The Church the True Spouse 



prepared for my craving heart ! Give me back to 
Christ, my Master, who has hung on thee ! " — if 
this was so wjth the servant, how much more did 
Jesus Christ cherish the cross, since " the disciple is 
not above the Master " ! Is not the love of this holy 
cross a distinguishing characteristic of the one true 
Catholic Church, particularly when compared with 
the modern sects ? They have altogether discarded 
it ; they have torn it from the steeples of churches, 
and broken it into pieces when they demolished Ca- 
tholic altars. They have trampled it under foot, in 
order to gain access to pagan nations for the pur- 
pose of traffic, as we see by the conduct of the Dutch 
in Japan. 

The sects, moreover, teach that Christ suffered for 
us, in order that we might be free from punishment ; 
they therefore reject the necessity of penitential 
works and ridicule the conduct of Catholics, who 
consider it a duty to chastise themselves and carry 
their cross with Jesus Christ. What reasons can a 
pious Protestant, then, have to love suffering, to love 
the cross of Christ, when he is taught that his suffer- 
ings avail him nothing, as Christ Himself alone has 
undergone all the salutary suffering ? But not so 
with a good Catholic ; he loves his sufferings for 
the sake of Jesus Christ, because the Divine Word 
teaches him that if he "has suffered with Christ, he 
also shall be glorified with Him/' * He knows that it 
is not sufficient to repent of his sins, he must like- 
wise do penance for them; for, says Christ: "Ex- 
cept you do penance, you shall perish all together/' f 
If the good Catholic glories in anything it is in the 
cross of Jesus Christ — that is to say, in the amount 

* Rom. viii. 17. t St. Luke xiii. 5. 



\ 



of the Suffering Saviour. 



293 



of suffering which has been allotted to him to bear 
for the love of his Divine Master. And even if, like 
Simon of Cyrene, he is forced to carry the cross after 
Jesus, he will make a virtue of necessity, and bear 
his sufferings cheerfully and without complaint as 
long as God wills it, remembering those words of 
Christ: "If any man will come after Me, let him 
deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me." * 
Where is there, or ever was there, one pious Pro- 
testant who, like St. Teresa, would ask our Lord : 
" Aut pati, aut mori " — either to suffer or to die ; or 
like St. Magdalen de Pazzi : " Pati et non mori " — 
let me suffer and not die ; or with St. Francis Xavier, 
when he saw in a vision numberless crosses coming 
down upon him from heaven, signifying how much 
he should have to suffer in India and Japan : " Am- 
plius, Domine^ amplius " — Yet more, Lord ! yet 
more ? It is only the Catholic Church that teaches 
her children " to glory in the cross of Jesus Christ. "f 
To those who are outside her pale this cross will be 
always a " stumbling-block and a folly." \ 

When the Divine Victim arrives at the summit of 
Calvary "they offer Him wine mingled with myrrh." 
This was intended to intoxicate Him and stupefy the 
senses, in order to render the pains of crucifixion less 
sensible ; but our Lord, having tasted, refused to 
drink. He did not seek to avoid the least pain, but 
endured the extremity of agony. Wine mixed with 
gall is the only comfort which the world, delicate to 
excess in its own pleasures, has to offer its dying 
Saviour. The pleasures of the world are intoxicating 
they are never pure, and only too often are mixed 
with the gall of bitterness and disappointment ; 

* St. Matt. xvi. 24. f Gal. vi. 14. % 1 Cor. i. 23. 



294 The Church the True Spouse 



they stupefy the senses, it is true, and make men 
forget that they are destined not to seek a paradise 
on earth, but the cross as the surest and safest means 
to attain the everlasting paradise of heaven. " They 
who are Christ's have crucified their flesh with its 
concupiscences." * They shun worldly pleasures, 
centre their affections on heaven, and place their 
treasure in the commandments of the Most High. 
No wonder that we see thousands of both sexes in the 
Catholic Church renouncing the world and all its al- 
lurements to embrace a crucified and laborious life 
in some religious order or other, which they know 
to be a state much despised and calumniated by 
the sects ! 

Jesus, the Messias of the world, has arrived at the 
place of sacrifice ; there He is divested anew of His 
garments. The upper one is speedily removed, and 
is afterwards shared among his executioners ; as, in 
later times, confiscated Church property was shared 
by the enemies of the Church. But oh ! the unut- 
terable anguish of Jesus when they tore from Him 
the seamless garment, which was next His skin. It 
had adhered to the o]jen wounds of His mangled 
body, and in this terrible ordeal the very bones were 
laid bare by the tearing of the flesh from His tender 
body ! 

This seamless garment represents, as the holy 
Fathers of the Church explain it, the unity of the 
true Church, the unity of faith in all its members, 
or rather His members — for the Church is the body 
of Christ ; her members are His members. Hence 
this garment cannot be rent or taken from Him 
without inflicting excruciating pain ; and those who 

* Gal. v. 24. 



of the Suffering Saviour. 



295 



advocate heresy and schism share the sentiments of 
Christ's executioners as well as perform their office ; 
for while they lacerate His body and rend the gar- 
ment of unity they mock at Him, saying : " We do 
Thee no harm ; it is for Thy greater glory ; it is 
to reform the Church, to save the truth, to restore 
the Gospel to its purity, the true doctrine of Christ 
without note or comment." 

At last Jesus is nailed to the cross. The mighty 
strokes of the hammer drive the nails through His 
hands and feet. The Divine Victim is laid on the 
altar ; the sacrifice commences ; the cross is lifted 
up and sinks into a hole in the rock, where it is 
fastened. And now He is glorified ; now He is ex- 
alted ; the most ardent wish of His life is accom- 
plished, for " When I shall be exalted from the 
earth," says He, "I will draw all things to My- 
self." * Yes, He begins already to draw all things 
to Himself ; for all things were made for Him, but 
not all would be drawn to Him. 

He first draws His enemies. No sooner is He 
exalted on the cross before the gaze of an innume- 
rable multitude than He lifts His eyes to heaven, 
and prays : " Father, forgive them, for they know 
not what they do." f There is no ignorance so 
pernicious or more to be dreaded than that which 
ignores Jesus Christ and His holy Church, which 
mocks and persecutes Him, thinking all the time 
it is doing God a service and promoting the cause 
of truth. " They know not what they do " ; still 
they do it, even when warned not to do so. How 
many endeavor to be good, kind, charitable, and 
just to all mankind, but when there is question of 

* St. John xii. 32. + St. Luke xxiii. 34. 



236 



The Church the True Spouse 



the Catholic religion they think it no harm, but 
a kind of zeal, to persecute this Church by every 
means in their power, although they know not what 
this Church is or what it teaches ! They will not 
even take the trouble to make an impartial enquiry 
about it. Still the Catholic Church prays daily with 
her Divine Founder: "Father, forgive them, for they 
know not what they do." Their ignorance, inaccessi- 
ble to every argument, even to the grace of God, has 
grown into fanaticism and madness. 

Exalted on His cross, the Divine Victim draws to 
Himself one of the two thieves that were crucified 
with Him. He was converted, and believed in spite 
of the misbelief and the unbelief that surround- 
ed him, mocking the eternal living Truth crucified 
before them. The other of His companions in death 
would not be drawn, refused to be converted ; he fol- 
lowed his own private judgment, at the side and 
in defiance of the living Truth, who desired to save 
him, and departed from his cross of torments to be 
condemned to the hell of the reprobate ; whereas the 
believing and repentant thief heard from the lips of 
Jesus Himself the consoling words: " This day thou 
shalt be with Me in Paradise." * 

Here also on His throne of suffering Jesus Christ 
draws to Himself His holy Mother and St. John the 
Apostle, "the disciple w T hom Jesus loved." The last 
bequest, the last pledge of redeeming love, was made 
to St. John, the faithful Apostle, and in him to the 
whole Catholic Church, which shares the inheritance 
of this privileged saint; for it is written, "From that 
hour the disciple took her to his own."f "Where is 
the pious and sincere Protestant who would take Mary, 

* St. Luke xxiii. 43. t St. John xix. 27. 



of (he Suffering Saviour. 



297 



the blessed Mother of Jesus, to his own, and love and 
revere her as such ? On the other hand, where is the 
Catholic, though he may not be over-zealous and 
pious in his conduct, who does not love this blessed 
Mother, and look to her with eyes of filial affection 
as to his mother ? Protestantism condemns the love 
and veneration of the Mother of God as being con- 
trary to the wishes of her Divine Son and derogatory 
to His dignity as the only mediator of mankind. 
Catholicism considers it a duty to love and respect 
her as a mother, since Jesus Christ Himself loved 
and respected her as such, and commanded His disci- 
ple to do the same to the end of his life.* 

* No matter what Luther said or wrote against the Catholic Church, her 
doctrine was so deeply engraven on his heart and soul that his true convic- 
tion broke out from time to time in spite of himself, and laid open his real 
sentiments. Hear how he prays to the blessed Mother of God in the preface 
to his exposition of the Magnificat (torn, i., Jen., fol. 477a) : "Dieselbe 
zarte Mutter Gottes wolt mir erwerben den Geist, der solch ihr Gesang moge 
niitzlich und grundlich auslegen. Euer FUrstlichen Gnaden, unci uns alien 
heylsamen Verstand, und lobliches Leben, daraus zu nehmen ; und dadurch 
im ewigen Leben loben und singen mogcn das ewige Magnificat. Das helffe 
uns Gott ! Amen.'" (May the same tender Mother of God obtain for me the 
spirit to expound this her song in a useful and sensible manner ; that ycur 
Princely Grace, as well as each and all of us, may take from it a salutary 
understanding and praiseworthy life, that thereby we may be enabled to 
praise and sing in life everlasting the eternal Magnificat. Thus help us God. 
Amen.) Fol. 489a he says : "Maria will nicht eine.Abgottin seyn ; sie thut 
nichts ; Gott thut alle Ding. Anruffen soli man sie, dasz Gott nach ihrem 
Willen gebe, und thne, was wir bitten. Also auch alle andere Heiligen anzu- 
ruffen seynd." (Mary docs not want to be a goddess ; she does nothing ; 
God does everything. But we should invoke her, in order that God, accord- 
ing to her will, may give and do what we ask. So also all other saints are 
to be invoked.) Lnther concludes this exposition of the Magnificat in the 
following manner (fol 499b) : "Alhier lassen wirs diszmahl bleiben, und 
bitten Gott um rechten Verstand dieses Magnificat, der da nicht allein 
leuchte, und rede, sondern auch brenne und lebe in Leib und Seel. Das ver- 
leihe uns Christus durch die Fiirbitt und Willen seiner Mutter Maria. 
Amen.'" (Here now we conclude this time, and beg of God the grace to 
understand this Magnificat aright, that not only may it burn and speak in 
us, but also live and shine in all our actions. May Christ grant us this grace 
through the will and prayers of His Mother Mary. Amen.) 



298 



Tlie Church the True Spouse 



The redeeming tide which was to wash away the 
stains of human guilt trickled slowly from the hands 
and feet of Jesus during the three hours of physi- 
cal and mental anguish which He endured upon 
the cross. His dying eyes rested affectionately on 
the heartless multitude, whose voices now swelled 
into one chorus of universal reproach, as the Scrip- 
ture informs us : "They that passed by blasphemed 
Him, wagging their heads, and saying : Vah, Thou 
that destroyest the temple of God, and in three days 
dost rebuild it : save Thyself. If Thou be the Son of 
God come down from the cross. In like manner also 
the chief priests with the Scribes and ancients mock- 
ing, said : He saved others ; -Himself He cannot save : 
if He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down 
from the cross, and we will believe Him," etc.* Up 
to the time of our Lord's Passion the Jewish Church 
was the temple of God. This temple Christ de- 
stroyed when He rejected the synagogue, announcing 
Himself officially before the high-priest Caiphas, but 
rebuilt it during the three days of His glorious Pas- 
sion and Resurrection. The Jewish priesthood and 
its followers, having strayed from the truth, had im- 
mediate recourse to the chief weapons of falsehood, 
mockery and raillery. Had they known and loved 
the truth they would at once have been convinced 
and have acknowledged that Jesus was God; the 
wonderful patience exhibited in His Passion was suffi- 
cient of itself to prove that He was indeed the Holy 
One whom Isaias had seen and described in prophetic 
vision : " He was offered because it was His own will, 
and He opened not his mouth : He shall be led as a 
sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb 

* St. Matt, xxvii. 39-42. 



of the Suffering Saviour. 



299 



before his shearer, and He shall not open His mouth. " * 
It requires no superhuman power to run from the 
cross, to shun or avoid suffering ; all men are natu- 
rally inclined to this. But to remain on the cross, to 
suffer and die on it, when one can escape its torture 
without difficulty — this is indeed a wonderful thing of 
which God alone, or one whom He endows with divine 
courage, is capable. Therefore our blessed Lord, 
who knew that no man could come after Him except 
he "deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Him," 
heeded not their invitation, " Come down from the 
cross." He demands nothing from His followers that 
He has not performed Himself; and if He should 
abandon His cross before death, who after that would 
have courage to be faithful to the end ? 

But let us see ; were these words of the enemies of 
Christ never repeated by the persecutors and rivals 
of the Catholic Church ? How many hundreds have 
been seduced from the seclusion of their monasteries, 
convents, and solitudes, where they lived crucified 
lives after the example of Christ and His Apostles, 
when the voice of the so-called Eeformers and their 
adherents reached them ? Listen to their seductive 
invitation : " Why do you break up the temple of 
God, your body, with fasting and austerities of life ? 
If you want to be a child of God, come down from 
the cross and enjoy the liberty of the children of God 
which we enjoy. Christ has suffered enough for us ; 
our sufferings are useless ; it is folly, a crime, to live, 
as you do, such a crucified life. Come down from 
the cross; we care not what becomes of vou here- 
after, but only that you come down from the cross 
and believe as we do. It is vain and wrong for you 



The Clair cli the True Spouse 



to take vows, to become ' obedient unto death, even, 
the death, of the cross/ * If our Eedeemer has done 
so, you need not imitate Him nor 6 follow His 
steps/ but ours; ours is the way that leads to life 
— at least it lets you enjoy the present life. Catho- 
licity takes from you the pleasures of this life, and 
points out to you those of the next. Instead of 
following the example of suffering Jesus, who, 'hav- 
ing joy set before Him, endured the cross, desjoising 
the shame," f we prefer to follow the example of 
the thieves that were crucified with Him, who en- 
joyed life as long as they could, and, when attached 
to the cross against their will, waited for the word : 
' This day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise/ " But 
hear and consider that it was only one of the two 
who was thus favored : he who was sincerely con- 
verted and endured his cross in the spirit of penance 
received this promise ; whereas the other, who did 
not believe, but persevered in his blasphemous ideas 
of Christ even to the end, was condemned to eternal 
perdition. 

Having already alluded briefly to the special honor 
claimed by our Lord Himself for His holy Mother, 
and shown that Catholics alone have, in every age, 
carried out this sweet doctrine, I think it well, be- 
fore closing this little treatise, to make some addi- 
tional remarks on the prerogatives of that sinless Vir- 
gin whom all generations shall call blessed. "]STow," 
says the holy Evangelist, ''there stood by the cross 
of Jesus His Mother, and His Mother's sister, Mary 
of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus, 
therefore, had seen His Mother and the disciple 
standing whom He loved, He said to His Mother: 

* Philip, ii. 8. t Heb. xii. 2. 



of the Suffering Saviour, 



301 



Woman, behold thy son. After that He said to 
the disciple : Behold thy Mother. And from that 
hour the disciple took her to his own." * This was 
the last pledge of love given by the dying Saviour 
before He gave up the ghost. After He had given 
all for us, even His very garments, which the exe- 
cutioners shared among themselves, there was yet 
one object infinitely dear to His sacred Heart ; that 
was His blessed Mother, the faithful companion 
who had shared His poverty and sufferings from 
the manger of Bethlehem to Golgotha. As He 
has given Himself, so He also gives this beloved 
Mother, to His true disciples, in every age, who 
inherit the faith and charity of that disciple 
"whom Jesus loved." Mary is the Mother of 
Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ is our brother: there- 
fore Mary is oar Mother also. As such she was 
given to St. John, and, in his person, to all those 
who adhere to Jesus with the faith, love, and pu- 
rity of the Beloved Apostle. Now, there can be no 
doubt that Jesus Christ, as a dutiful Son, loved and 
revered His Mother ; neither can we doubt that the 
disciple whom Jesus loved, and who received Mary 
from Jesus Christ to be his Mother, and " took her 
to his own," loved and revered her as his Mother 
also. There is no Catholic instructed in his reli- 
gion who has not been taught from infancy, or from 
the day of his conversion to the faith, to take Mary 
to his own, and love and revere her as Jesus Christ 
Himself and St. John loved and revered her. But 
where is there even one denomination of Protestant- 
ism that would recommend to its followers such a 
doctrine ? Was it not the characteristic of Protest- 



* St. John xix. 25-27. 



302 The Church the True Spouse 



autism, no matter in what shape or under what 
name it presented itself, to deprive Mary, the 
Mother of God, of this special love and respect 
which she received from her Divine Son, His loving 
Apostle, and all true Christians, and to reduce her 
in the estimation of its followers to the rank of an 
ordinary pious woman ? It is only in the Catho- 
lic Church that we see fulfilled to the letter the 
prophetic words of Mary — and holy Scripture says 
expressly that she was inspired by the Holy Ghost 
when she spoke them — "Henceforth all generations 
shall call me blessed/' * The incessant efforts of 
Protestantism to do away with the honor and re- 
spect due to this heavenly Queen, allowing her at 
most to be called " The Virgin/' never the "Blessed 
Virgin," and abolishing wherever it can every vestige 
of special devotion paid to her, proves as clearly as 
daylight that not only it has no share in the bequest 
made to St. John at the foot of the cross, and that 
it is not animated by the spirit of that holy Apostle, 
who from that hour took Mary as his own, but that 
it belongs to the seed of that serpent which "lies in 
wait for the heel of the woman who crushed his 
head." f Wherever this woman places her foot the 
serpent is lying in wait to blot out every vestige of 
her presence ; and wherever Protestantism finds love 
and reverence for the blessed Mother of Jesus, who is 
also our Mother, it endeavors to extinguish and an- 
nihilate them ; and this it calls ^Reformation ! 

The three hours of our Lord's agony were about to 
close, and the interior dereliction which He endured 
wrung from his heart the mournful complaint : "My 
God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ? " Then, 

* St. Luke i. 48. t Gen iii. 15. 



of the Suffering Saviour. 



303 



to give us some idea of His destitution and want of 
even the most trifling relief, in His agony he cries 
out, "I thirst/' when one of the soldiers, dipping a 
sponge in vinegar, presented it to His lips. Jesus, 
having taken the vinegar, said: "It is consummat- 
ed/' " and, bowing down His head, gave up the 
ghost." * The work which Thou gave Me to do, 
heavenly Father ! is finished : the Gospel is preached, 
the Church is founded, the holy sacraments are in- 
stituted, the ransom is paid ; all that I could do to 
gain the affection of man is done ; every feeling and 
every sense has its torment. My task is performed ; 
it is consummated. "Father, into Thy hands I 
commend My spirit." f 

As "it is appointed for all men once to die," 
there comes a moment in the life of each one that 
obliges him to say, " Consummatum est " — It is con- 
summated ! "Whatever his life may have been, it is 
finished. Whether a life of unsullied innocence, of 
self-sacrificing charity and godliness, or a life of self- 
deceit, lust, rebellion, and crime, " it is consum- 
mated." And it is particularly at this awful mo- 
ment, when we are about to step into the tomb, that 
the divinity of the true religion shines forth in its 
brightest lustre. I do not maintain that all who die 
outside the pale of the true Church die on the rag- 
ged edge of despair, in relentless remorse of con- 
science, trembling wdth anxiety and fear. Neither 
do I assert that in the last hour every member of the 
true Church is exempt from a share of that death- 
agony which forced the Saviour Himself to exclaim : 
" My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ?" 
As a general thing experience teaches that men die 

* St. John xix. 30. t St. Luke xxiv. 46. 




304 



Tlie Cliurch the True Spouse 



as they lived — death is the echo of life ; so those 
who never feared God, never directed their thoughts 
to serious reflection concerning their future state, 
being saiisfied to live a mere natural or animal life, 
die apparently content with the stoic resignation of 
a brute, that fears dissolution but no future, because 
it knows of nothing to fear or hope for hereafter. 
Many, no matter of what religion, have an idea, im- 
planted in their minds from very infancy through 
the teachings of their sects, that they are the elect 
of God, and therefore sure of heaven, in spite of all 
their sins and religious doubts, which they never 
eared to rectify, though favored with many warnings, 
both internal and external. They continue to say, 
" Lord, Lord/"up to the last moment, and never ad- 
mit the fear that they themselves belong to that class 
to whom the Saviour says He will address those words 
which exclude all hope : "I never knew you : depart 
from Me, all ye that work iniquity." * Well may 
they seem to die in peace ; but it is not the peace of 
the Lord, but a self made, artificial peace, of which 
the Lord has said: " Peace, peace, and behold there 
was no peace." f They never remembered that 
" with fear and trembling they should have worked 
out their salvation." J Having been taught that 
Christ did 'all for them, they never believed in the 
necessity of working out their salvation, and neither 
in life nor in death did they fear and tremble, ex- 
cept at the approach of bodily pain and imminent 
material dissolution. But if, by a special grace at 
that hour, they fear and tremble for their salvation, 
they either yield at once to the solicitations of this 
grace — especially when, acquainted with the Catholic 

* St. Matt. vii. 23. t Jeremias vi. 14. % Phil. ii. 12. 



of the Suffering Saviour. 



305 



faith, they return to the true fold at the eleventh 
hour — or, resisting grace, give evident signs of dying 
in despair. And here I appeal to a fact well worth 
the notice of our non- Catholic brethren : that there 
is scarcely a Catholic priest to be found who, having 
exercised his sacred ministry for some time in places 
not altogether Catholic, has not had the consolation 
of receiving some dying non-Catholic, at his own re- 
quest, into the fold of the mother Church ; where- 
as we have yet to hear of a single instance in which 
a Catholic in the pangs of death has sincerely ex- 
pressed a desire to change his religion and join some 
sect before appearing in the presence of his Judge. 
But what must we say when we approach the death- 
bed of those pious and saintly persons who, "having 
fought the good fight, finished their course, kept 
the faith, are now expecting the crown of justice 
which shall be given them on that day by the just 
Judge," * and behold not only their heroic exam- 
ple of piety, patience, resignation, and humility, but 
those supernatural manifestations seldom absent 
from the death-bed of the Catholic saints, as we 
read in the history of their lives, attested by the 
sworn testimony of eye-witnesses ? For the Psalmist 
tells us : " Precious in the sight of the Lord is 
the death of His saints " ; f and well may we ask 
the question : Why is it that we never hear of such 
wonderful proofs of sanctity in the lives or deaths of 
the most prominent members of other religious de- 
nominations ? Because in the Catholic Church alone 
true sanctity is found. To deny these marvels of the 
Omnipotent, displayed in the lives and deaths of 
Catholic saints, would be to share in the crime of 

* 2 Tim. iv. 7. t Ps. cxv. 15. 



306 • The Church the True Spouse 

the Scribes and Pharisees at the death of our Lord. 
After Jesus expired on the cross the sun was darken- 
ed, the rocks burst asunder, the dead came forth 
alive from their tombs, the veil of the temple was 
rent in twain, all nature was convulsed ; so that even 
the pagan centurion who stood by the cross on guard 
struck his breast and confessed,, " Indeed this was 
the Son of God." But the Pharisees heeded none 
of these supernatural manifestations; wagging their 
heads, they continued to call Him an impostor. Such 
a denial pierces the heart of Jesus ; it tears asunder 
the hidden designs of an infinitely loving God ; it is 
a crime against the well-known truth, a sin against 
the Holy Ghost, of which our Lord has said : " ft 
shall not be forgiven, neither in this world nor in 
the next " ; * it is a wilful, unconquerable ignorance 
which shall only be enlightened after death, when, 
as St. John observes, " they shall. look on Him whom 
they pierced." f 

Scripture informs us that "one of the soldiers 
with a spear opened the side of Jesus, and im- 
mediately there came forth blood and water." J 
According to the testimony of the most ancient 
Fathers of the Church, this blood and water sig- 
nified the two elements which form and cement 
the body of the Church— namely, Baptism and the 
Eucharist. By Baptism we are regenerated and 
made members of Christ's mystical body — His holy 
Church ; and by the most precious Body and Blood 
of Jesus Christ, contained in the Blessed Eucharist, 
we are made one flesh with Him, as we are one 
spirit. Where is the true believer to be found 
whose heart does not ache with compassion when 

* St Matt. xii. 32. t St. John xix. 37. $ Ibid. xix. 34. 



of the Suffering Saviour. 



307 



he remembers that the majority of our American 
people are not only deprived of the Eucharist, the 
living bread which satiates and sustains the spirit 
in its "continual warfare" but are not even bap- 
tized ? Well may we ask : Who has turned away 
this life-giving stream of blood and water which 
gushes from the adorable heart of Jesus and "mak- 
eth joyful the city of God "'? * It is not the Catholic 
Church, whose first care at the birth of a child is 
to bring it under the quickening influence of this 
stream, to wash away in holy Baptism every stain 
of sin, and, when it has arrived at the age of dis- 
cretion and is capable of "discerning the body of 
the Lord/ 5 f to nourish and preserve it with that 
precious Body and Blood unto life everlasting. Who, 
then, did it ? 

-We read that "Joseph of Arimathea took the body 
of our Lord, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and 
laid it in his own monument, which he had hewn 
out in a rock." Every day the Catholic Church com- 
memorates the death of our Lord Jesus Christ in 
the holy sacrifice of the Mass. Let the place of 
worship be ever so poor, there you find the monu- 
ment — the altar ; there also you find the rock — the 
altar-stone, anointed with sweet spices — the holy 
oil ; and there is the clean linen cloth which is to 
receive the sacred Body of Christ after consecra- 
tion. 

"The chief priests and the Pharisees came to- 
gether to Pilate, saying: Sir, we have remembered 
that that seducer said while He was yet alive : 
After three days I will rise again. Command, 
therefore, the sepulchre to be guarded. . . . 

* Ps. xlv. 5. +1 Cor. xi. 22. 



308 



The Church the True Spouse 



And they departing, made the sepulchre sure, 
sealing the stone and setting guards." Since that 
day when Pilate permitted the Jews to do as 
they desired in order to prevent the resurrection of 
Christ, misbelief (represented by the Jewish priests 
and Pharisees) and unbelief (represented by Pilate) 
unite to oppose the action of Jesus Christ and His 
Church, having recourse, in many instances, to vio- 
lence and force of arms in order to suppress her. 
In all countries where they succeeded in suppressing 
the exterior forms of Catholic worship, or where its 
members consisted of the minority, there is placed 
the sentinel to watch her movements ; but, thanks 
to God, there is a country of the most intelligent 
and prosperous of peoples — if once wholly under the 
dominion of the true faith — where, although at pre- 
sent vastly non-Catholic, no guard of soldiers is set 
to prevent her growth or resurrection. The steady 
cross of Jesus Christ planted on the steeples of His 
Catholic churches is as well protected by the stars 
and stripes as the weathercocks and vanes of sec- 
tarian meeting-houses, which turn as the wind blows 
— that is, according to popular whims and preju- 
dices, called the spirit of the age. 

As it is an undeniable fact that all sects, no mat- 
ter how much opposed to each other, are always 
united in their opposition to the Catholic Church, so 
it was with the Jewish priests, Scribes, and Phari- 
sees, who were joined in close friendship with Pilate 
and Herod to oppress and crucify Christ. They set 
it down as a principle that no good can come from 
Eome ; so did the Jews believe that no good could 
come from Nazareth. They start the war-cry, "No 
Popery ! " as the Jews exclaimed, "Away with Him, 



of the Suffering Saviour. 



309 



crucify Him ! " They labor to affright the American 
people by impressing them with the idea that if they 
permit Catholicity to spread in this country the Pope 
of Eome will come and take possession of it. The 
Jewish chief priests and Pharisees/' gathered in coun- 
cil," said in like manner: " What do Ave ? . . . If 
we let Him alone so, all will believe in Him, and the 
Eomans will come and take away our place and our 
nation." * And, indeed, the Eomans did come, and it 
was not the Christians who caused the invasion, but 
the same sects that forty years before exclaimed: " We 
have no king but Caesar." f They brought it on by 
revolting against Caesar, the emperor of the Eomans. 
And if — which G-od forbid !— this our beloved country 
should ever lose its liberty and fall into the hands of 
Caesar, it will not be the Catholics of the country 
nor the Pope of Eome that will counsel or assist 
them in the parricidal act. Why should they, when 
they know from a hundred years' experience that 
Catholicity grows nowhere so rapidly as in the 
sunshine of civil and religious liberty ? But should 
such a calamity ever take place it will be by means 
of the sects, animated with the spirit of those who 
cried : "Not this man, but Barabbas"; and those who 
now exclaim, " No king ! no Popery ! " may also one 
day cry out, "No President, no Congress, no consti- 
tution, no liberty ! " when they get sufficient power in 
their own hands. And why not ? They are not 
guided by any fixed principle ; their guide is private 
judgment, which they form according to the spirit 
of the age. And if the spirit of the age tends to- 
wards socialism, communism, or Caesarism, it is not 
only possible but even probable that they will defend 

* St. John 3d. 47, 48. t Ibid. xix. 15. 



310 The Church the True Spouse 



and uphold these also ; always appealing, of course, 
to the word of the Bible as the rule of their pro- 
ceedings, which Bible without the Church, the only 
divinely-appointed interpreter, is nothing more, as 
an Anglican bishop wisely said, than "a fiddle on 
which every man plays his own tune." Trusting in 
the goodness of God, we have every reason to hope 
this evil will never come upon us. There is the holy 
Catholic Church steadily growing, " the ground and 
pillar of truth," not " tossed to and fro by every wind 
of doctrine," teaching her children to suffer and die 
in defence of their country's rights and liberties, as 
she teaches them to suffer and die in defence of 
their Church. Besides, there are millions of citizens 
throughout the States who belong to no sect, or, if 
they are nominally attached to any one of them, are 
not so wedded to it as to be willing to sacrifice their 
country's liberty to the ravings of infuriated zealots 
whose only religion is hatred of the Catholic Church 
of God, which they desire to gratify even at the ex- 
pense of the Constitution of our glorious and time- 
honored republic. These true American patriots, 
noble souls that stoop not to prejudice or passion, 
united at least in national fraternity with the suffer- 
ing spouse of Jesus Christ, the Holy Catholic Church, 
will form an impregnable fortress to sustain and de- 
fend that independence which heroes won one hun- 
dred years ago. Therefore let us be assured that the 
deeper the American nation is engrafted in the body 
and spirit of the Catholic Church, the more it par- 
takes of her indestructible conservatism, which is the 
best safeguard of its rights and liberties; and those 
who have at heart the welfare of their country can- 
not aid her better than to unite their energies and 



of the Suffering Saviour. 



311 



talents, not for the purpose of establishing an alli- 
ance between the sects to oppose Catholicity, but to 
establish by every means in their power a happy re- 
union in the faith originally " handed down to the 
saints"; that we may be all one, even as Christ and 
His Father are one ; that our prayers may form one 
sweet odor of incense before the throne of the Al- 
mighty, and that the plaintive chant of our vesper 
hymns may ascend daily from this vale of tears to 
mingle with the triumphant song of the redeemed, 
our brethren in the faith, who were found faithful 
unto death, and therefore now reign with Christ in 
His heavenly kingdom. Keturn, then, children of 
God ! return to the house of your Father, who has 
" loved you with an everlasting love/' to the arms 
of a mother who yearns for your welfare. Eaise your 
thoughts and affections above the passing shadows of 
time, and fix them on what awaits you beyond the 
tomb. " The night approaches, in which no man can 
work" ; " Now is the acceptable time, now is the day 
of salvation." Now, perhaps, only a little time re- 
mains for you to secure heaven. Oh! then reject not 
this last warning. Hasten to the Bark of Peter, the 
Church of the Parables, the Suffering Spouse of Jesus 
Christ, who has said : 66 He that is not with Me is 
against Me ; and he that gathereth not with Me, scat- 
tereth" ; 66 Behold, I am with you all days, even to 
the consummation of the world. " This Bark of 
Peter is the only one that will bear you in safety to 
your eternal home. There alone you can tread in 
the footsteps of Jesus and His saints. Only there 
" your soul can die the death of the just, and your lent 
end he like to theirs" * 



* Num. xxiii. 10. 



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